Choose one of the prompts below and write your response. Posts are due by 3 p.m. Monday, October 24.
Enjoy your weekend.
1. Choose a fairy tale and rewrite it from another character's point of view. For example, retell the story of Snow White from Bashful's point of view, or what if Cinderella's slipper had fit one of her step-sisters? What if Little Red Riding Hood took place in the city instead of the forest. Have fun with this one.
2. In 300 words, write about deceit.
3. Recall a time when you did something to get noticed. Write about it in third person.
4. Take two people who immensely dislike each other and stick them in the back of a cab during rush hour traffic. What happens? (Feel free to change the setting if you wish.)
5. Write about how you felt when you were lied to.
6. Two people split a winning lotto ticket. What happens next?
7. Find an interesting headline and create a story around it.
58 comments:
A Food Fight in the Produce Aisle- article title from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, October, 20, 2011. The article described how everyone wants to put their products in the produce aisle because it is considered the “fresh aisle.” The story I made about this headline is......
It was Friday during activity period and Mr. Smith was walking through the produce section at the Co-op. Suddenly a tomato came flying out of no where and hit Mr. Smith smack in the face. Juice splattered all over staining his crisp white collared shirt. He screamed with humiliation as he looked over piles of lettuce trying to spot the culprit. Having no luck he called the school and five minutes later all the teachers came running in to help him. More tomatoes soared through the air and hit the pack of teachers. Anxiously looking around the teachers couldn’t spot the tomato throwers. Then without warning a mob of HHS students came rushing down the dairy aisle and into the produce section. This is when the food fight really began. Students and teachers grabbed oranges, tomatoes, grapes, pineapples, bananas, and various other fruits and vegetables and began hurling them at each other. This raging food fight lasted for about 20 minutes until there was no more fresh produce. Mr. Smith then screamed as loud as he could and started cursing at all the students. No one had ever seen Mr. Smith this mad. Many students went missing after this incident at the Co-op and police are still investigating whether Mr. Smith had anything to do with the disappearance of those particular students.
Up: From Ellie Fredrickson’s point of view…
From the day I met Carl, I knew that I was going to marry him. I was very sure of myself as a little girl, confident and adventurous, and only needed one thing: a fellow explorer. Carl was very shy, but shared my passion for adventure. Our ultimate dream in life was to reach paradise falls in South America; Carl promised me and crossed his heart that he would take me there someday.
Our childhood friendship grew into love, and we became happily married. Living in our old clubhouse, our dreams of paradise falls lived on. As many years went by, I had not doubts that Carl would take me there. After all, he had crossed his heart. We lived long and prosperous lives, but when Carl sat beside my deathbed, he still had not fulfilled his promise. I passed on from this life with an empty dream, and I watched over Carl in the house that had been mine for 78 years.
As he went on without me, Carl became a bitter, sad old man. He was living with nothing to live for, until he saw an opportunity to fulfill our dream. When forced to leave our clubhouse for good, he took it with him, up into the sky with thousands of helium balloons. They carried him to paradise falls, where he was forced to leave me.
Feeling content with himself, he smiled as he floated away on the blimp that would take him back to America. As far as I am concerned, Carl has let me down once again. After fulfilling my dream only after my death, he simply leaves me. I wanted to be in paradise falls, but I never expected that I would be deserted here for eternity. I sit here now, remembering the day Carl and I met. I wonder now if there was somebody better for me, someone that shared my fire for life. I remember Carl now with bitter resentment, as somebody that idly sat by as my only dream slipped away.
Kendra-
I really liked how you wrote about the article title- it was much more interesting and fun to read than the article itself. I liked how you used the coop Mr. Smith, becuase it allowed us to relate to your story and imagine the scene in our heads very well. You could include something about how the shoppers or coop employees reacted to add to the story. I also liked how you ended the piece, because it sounded very similar to how a real news article would end.
Two people split a winning lotto ticket. What happens next?
When Billy Anderson and James Bracett won the lottery ticket, something very bad happened. They both lived in Boston, Massachusetts, on the same road. Previously, Billy and James had got into a serious argument over a serving of banana pudding. It all started at the Anderson’s party. James and Billy were having a chat with a couple of their friends when they noticed that there was only a spoonful of pudding left in the bowl on the counter. They both reached for it and met each others eyes awkwardly. Next thing you know, the two of them erupted in a full-on fist fight in the middle of the party. Now that they both won the lottery ticket, each thought they deserved the full reward. So the day they found out that the other had won the other half of the ticket, they met at the pudding store to sort things out. In the end they decided to put all of their money combined into a banana pudding store business which they owned and managed together.
Claire, I really like you essay on Up. I enjoyed reading it because I've seen it and can relate on what you are talking about. I like how you chose the lady's perspective. I thought it was really interesting to see the story from her eyes even from when she passed away.
“An Odd Couple and a Well-Shod Cat”- article title from the October 21st edition of The Wall Street Journal. This article went on to tell the story off the two men in Hollywood who together are putting together the new Disney movie, “Puss in Boots”. My made up story is….
Small Mr. Crumble stared deeply at his reflection. His reflection was distorted and made his eyes, already magnified by his thick glasses, appear even larger. The reflection he was staring at was not in a mirror or even a lake but in the perfectly smooth sheen of the leather of the miniature boots he had just polished. Satisfied by what he saw, he returned the boots to their carefully labeled shelf where they resided next to other sets of similarly sized and polished footwear. The shoes were meticulously arranged by material, the season they were most likely to be worn in, and by the wear and tear on the shoes themselves. The strangest thing about this assortment of footwear was the fact that there were 4 of every variety.
As Mr. Crumble stood admiring his towering collection of tiny shoes, a tall slender women burst in. She wore a long tie-dyed silk gown that swirled around her slim frame. Her long platinum blond hair was tied back with a diaphanous patterned scarf and its volume added to her height. She leaned down to be at the same height as the stooped elderly man before her and happily threw her arms around his neck.
“ Oh darling, they look simple marvelous!” she cried. Mr. Crumble hardly acknowledged her presence and continued staring at the shoes with great reverence.
Trying to catch her husband’s attention she tried again “Shall I call Newton so he can see his collection himself?”
At the mention of Newton, Mr. Crumble’s oversized eyes snapped open. He thoughtfully considered her suggestion and almost said something, but then stopped and thought some more. He finally said
“Newton can not be called. He is his own cat and he will decide if he wants to see his new footwear collection or not. However, we should inform it that it is complete”.
Holding hands, the odd couple went off in search of their newly well-shod cat.
Claire-
I love the movie Up and I thought that your take on Ellie's point of view was very interesting. It is definitely different from what I would have imagined myself. You did a really nice job adding depth to the characters.
-Nathalie
G-locks was thuroughly fed up. Life on the steets was a challenge enough, and her menacing steel-toed boots were starting to cause a dull ache in her toes. A loud gurgle escaped her stomach, and her eyes darted around the streets in search of a lone child with sufficient food that she could rip from their grasp. No such luck today, and her dyed pitch black hair began to dampen with persperation at the thought of no food for the night.
A door slammed in front of G-Locks hiding spot in the bushes, and three ridiculously happy bears pranced from their apartment steps and began to make their way down the street. G-Locks heard little snippets of their sickeningly happy conversation. "Let's go to the science museum," squealed the small bear, hopping up and down. "And then the Art museum!" cried the adult female bear, presumably the mother of the young one, holding tenderly to her husbands arm.
Their voices soon faded, and left G-lock both hungry AND nauscious. Who was ever that happy? Suddenly, she had a thought. The bears would be gone for quite some time, and they deserved to be shaken up a little. Stealing some food from their appartment would only help them, G-locks decided as she walked across the street. Eyes gazed at her pernicious appearance, but would flit away as soon as she glanced over at them. G-locks didn’t know what offended people so much. Her ferocious chains around her neck, her baggy pants, her metal teeth, or her rocker t-shirts? People these days didn’t understand expression.
The door was unlocked, of course, and G-locks cluncked through the doors without a backward glance. She had noticed the bears had come out of room 301, and she quietly opened the large appartment door, taking in the smell of honey and hot cereal that flooded her senses immediatley.
G-locks felt drool drip down the side of her mouth, as she spied a large bowl of porridge sitting on the table. Back when she had a loving family in the forest, her parents had always made her porridge. Now there was no family to speak of, and she was lucky to have a small tortilla chip for dinner each night.
(AS LONG AS THE BLOG WILL LET ME POST)
Two best friends; Paul and Greg had just got the news they had won the Vermont state lottery. 21 million dollars was heading their way and the plan if they won was to split it 50/50 giving them 10.5 million dollars each. This was more money then either of these men could have ever dreamed of having in their lifetime, the greed set in. Both men felt they deserved more then their half of the winnings, the arguments begun of who bought the ticket and who gave the numbers for the ticket. Both were valid points but each man felt the other was in the wrong. This lead to frequent disagreements over the simplest of things and their friendship weakening with ever argument. When both Greg and Paul received the money it proved only to be a problem with careless spending by both men. Within the first week they had both spent around one million dollars on stuff they didn't need at all. Paul had moved away from his hometown of Barre where him and Greg had grown up in. Greg although spending his first million very quickly was less careless with his winnings opening a bank account. He also ended up donating a great deal of money to local charities and foundations that needed money. Paul and Greg were once inseparable and now they were just trying to get as far away from each other as possible. Money has a very strong impact on people especially in quantities that Paul and George had won. It can make you be a totally different person wether it be for the greater good like Greg did or for the worse like Paul suffered.
Max,
I really liked your story about Billy and James and their banana pudding business. Money has strange effects of people especially when you win the lottery but I liked how you made them settle their differences and end up opening a business together, good job.
The way I feel when I am lied to depends on who it was who lied to me. If I had someone who I do not really know or someone who lie to me, then I feel indifferent with a little bit of distaste. However if a close friend or someone who I really trust were to lie to me, then I would feel betrayed. When I am lied to I sometimes feel like asking myself why someone would lie to me. I ask myself is this something that might have been my fault. But then I realize that nothing I have done could make deserve being lied to. There are very few things that warrent being lied to, but anytime I have ever been lied to, I think about it, and I realize I have done none of those things.
Jane and Jill were just about ready to leave the store when Jane suggested they buy a lottery ticket. Jill agreed and so they purchased it. They didn’t expect anything to happen, it was just for fun. When Jill received a phone call informing her she had in fact won 10 million dollars, she couldn’t believe it. She called Jane and together they went and got the check. At first they decided to split it equally, but as each person started thinking about how much more they could do with 10 million than 5 million things between the two friends became less than friendly.
Jane thought she deserved 75 percent of the winnings. She had paid for more than half of the ticket’s cost and she expected this to be translated into how much she won. Jill, on the other hand, decided she wanted 75 percent because she actually purchased the ticket and filled out the information in case the number won. So, they both went out and found the best lawyers to help them with their case. They battled back and forth for months until they eventually found themselves in court. It wasn’t until then that Jane and Jill realized how pointless and unnecessary what they were doing was. They had both spent a large amount of money on lawyer fees. They finally figured out that they had more money now than they ever would have before whether they had 5 million or 7.5 million. So they dropped the case and were soon back to being best friends. They made one final decision regarding their money. They gave the rest of their money away to charities so that their greed would never come between their friendship again.
claire,
you did a great job with your interpretation of up. I liked how you chose to make Ellie's point of view very different from what most people would expect.It adds a different feeling to the movie.
Max-
I think that your story is very amusing and clever. I just think that you could go into a little more detail.
After both having a hard say at work, John and Dave met at a gas station, and decided to both pay for half of a lottery ticket for 20 million dollars., that night as the eagerly watched the TV, something amazing happened, they won.
The next morning they met in town and each took 10 million dollars, but there was a problem. Dave thought that he deserved more because he thought that he could profit from it more and John thought that he also deserved more. So they struck up a deal. They would meet in a year, and then see who profited from it more. And who ever did, would get everything that the loser had. The following year, they were both on there way to the coffee shop where they would meet. They both pulled in to the parking lot at the same time. John, in his gold plated Lamborghini. And Dave in his authentic bat-mobile. As they stepped out of there cars, both expecting to beat the other, a look of devastation crossed both of there faces. It turned out, that they had both spent that year trying so hard to get better things than the other, that they had spend all of there money. And because they were so bent on proving each other wrong. They had then spent all of there kids college savings, as well as retirement money, on buying a sweet care. In the end they should have just been happy for what they had.
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
Ever since the bomb our town has been in shambles. Houses had burned and our water has been polluted. Even now you can see the smoke hanging over the rooftops and the crows circling. Most of the townspeople have moved on and only a few have tried to create lives for themselves out of the rubble. Jack and I were the lucky ones. We’ve been friends and neighbors since childhood and always lived on the very outskirts of town. When the bomb fell our mothers told us to run for the hills while our fathers ran into town to see if they could help. I don’t know what’s happened to them but Jack and I have been doing our best to survive. The other day Jack found an old well near the edge of a cliff. We tasted a bit of the water and it seems to be clean and safe to drink. The next day Jack and I took some buckets we salvaged from the wreckage of the town and went to the well. While I lowered the first bucket with the rusty old pulley Jack went to look at the view. “Hey Jill, look at this” he said waving me over, “You can see the town from here. It’s an absolute mess.” I began walking over when I felt tremors in the ground. Grabbing a nearby tree I watching in horror as the earth beneath Jack’s feet crumbled away. His arms flailed wildly as he slowly tilted backwards and disappeared over the edge. Running to the edge I flung myself down to peer over the cliffside. Below me lay Jack. He had landed on a small ledge, but besides a few scratches he seemed unhurt. “Jack” I shouted, “Are you alright? Can you reach?” I stretched my arm down and he leaped up to grab it. However, the force of his pull dragged me farther over the edge. Little by little I could feel myself getting pulled over the edge, until all at once I was over the edge and falling. I landed hard on the small ledge, but in the process let go of Jacks hand. He screamed as he fell until he hit the ground far below with a sickening crunch. It took me a few minutes to find the courage to look down to where Jack was, but what I saw made my stomach churn. He had fallen all the way to the very bottom of the cliff and lay broken and twisted on the rocks below. I sat back and tried to take deep calming breaths while figuring out what to do. That’s when the tremors started again. The earth shook violently and there was a suspicious cracking sound. Then I noticed the soil of the ledge started falling away, at first quite slowly and then faster and faster.
jonathan- you had a very interesting idea. you could have used a little more detail but other than that I liked how you explained what they had missed out on in life because of their greed.
Today was just another ordinary day in Chicago. I got out of work and headed over to the thrift store just a block away. I purchased my lottery tickets just as usual; a hefty 5 dollars every other day seemed like a worthwhile investment if I get a shot at 60 million dollars. I rode the long elevator ride up to my apartment and was greeted at my door by none other than Larry, my fat bulldog.
But all these ordinary happenings changed within the first half hour of the MegaMill’s Lottery broadcast. The announcer began to read the numbers one by one; the same announcer that has crushed my hopes and dreams for years and years. Suddenly, as if he was some sort of psychic, the announcer’s numbers began to match mine. 97…….16……..74…….23….2……..44.
I couldn’t even contain my excitement. I jumped up off my couch sending potato chips flying everywhere, and hurriedly ran out the door. How? I thought. How could this be? I arrived at the broadcasting station which was surrounded by a crowd of people. There was something wrong though. Everyone was congratulating this man who looked so overjoyed he was about to pop. I got out of my car and pushed through the crowd to the man being congratulated. I shoved over all the people surrounding him and held out my ticket in front of his face. He looked just as shocked as I was as we both saw that both of our tickets had the same numbers printed on them. The MegaMill’s workers were surprised too. A large tall man strode out of the building in front of us with a microphone clenched in his hand with the chord dancing behind him. Once he had gotten everyone’s attention he bellowed into the mic saying “It appears, we have a draw for the first time in MegaMill’s history. You both must now split the winnings.” I was so confused yet so happy because I knew that no matter what, 30 million dollars was a lot of money.
Max,
I really liked how you incorporated banana pudding. That made it very comical. However, I think this prompt response was lacking in length. Fortunately, for the sake of this assignment it met the requirements. Nice Work.
When I Was Lied To
As a four year old I really enjoyed the The Old West. I always dressed up as a cowboy. Every chance I found, I ran around with my cowboy boots,cowboy hat, vest, and jeans. However, I was missing the trusty cowboy gun.
That summer my Aunt Haydee and cousin Alex visited. After telling Alex I didn't have a gun; he offered to buy me a toy one from Walmart. I became filled with happiness when he went out shopping. I couldn't stay still and imagined playing with the gun.
When he returned I bolted towards him asking where the gun was. He told me that he didn't buy it. I couldn't believe what I heard. I was so excited to have this new gun and he lied to me. He got my hopes up and destroyed them just as quickly. I hated Alex for this and ran away crying. I had never been this upset before and didn't want to talk to anyone.
Alex found me in my room sobbing on the bed. I yelled at him to go away, and used select words a four year old shouldn't know. Suddenly, from behind his back, he pulled out a toy rifle. I went from hating him to loving him in a split second. That was a cruel trick he played on me.
Erich,
I really enjoyed your story. I found it quite interesting and I believe that this has probably happened before. I love the reality of it and I though you did a wonderful job. Great work!
Laura and Lola are best friends and are in major debt. Not letting the debt hold them back they decide to buy hundreds of lottery tickets in hopes of winning the lottery and to pay off their debt. Sure enough they win the lottery, and after paying off their debt they have 10 million dollars remaining. Laura and Lola decide to split the money evenly. Then the idea of having 5 million dollars finally sinks in for them, and they quickly start becoming competitive with their spending.
“Oh Hey Laura! I just bought a mansion in the Caribbean!”
“Well I just bought an island in the Caribbean!”
The competitiveness causes Laura and Lola to go their separate ways. But soon Laura and Lola are right back where they started, broke and in debt. They find each other in a gas station and they realize how much they miss one another. Laura and Lola both apologize and realize miraculously that they each only have enough money to buy half of a lottery ticket. So together they buy a lottery ticket, and again Laura and Lola win. But this time Laura and Lola promised each other that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes they did last time.
Sara, I really enjoyed your rewrite of Jack and Jill went up the hill. You did a great job describing the result of the bomb. Also did a good job keeping in the point of view of Jill.
Deceit is defined as “the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating.” When deceit is used, the truth may be hidden or avoided, and something else is used in its place that others are tricked into believing.
People may deceive others for many different reasons. One is that they may have something to hide. Someone may not want others to know something about them, maybe because they are embarrassed or think that others won’t accept it. They may try to cover it up with a lie, or hide it by avoiding letting people know about it. People may also use deceit in the way they act, and hide their personality. Maybe they do this to be accepted, and to blend in more with others. Some people may even do this unintentionally, not even realizing that they act differently around others. Another reason people use deceit is to hide the truth so they can get what they want. When deceit is used in this way, it is sometimes more of a lie just covering up the truth. The lie is made up by someone for a purpose, to keep others from actually figuring out the truth.
Deceit can also be used to describe a person. Someone might say that a person is full of deceit, meaning that all they ever do is make things up. People might be careful around this type of person because they don’t know what about them is true and what is not. If someone is deceitful, then who they are may be unclear, and people may suspect them as always being untruthful.
Rainie,
I really liked your story and thought it had both a good ending and message. I think you could have added a bit more detail to make it more descriptive, such as how they felt in the situation.
Lies are very common in our society. People lie to keep themselves or others out of trouble, to protect someone's feelings, to make friends, to use as excuse for not being "normal", etc. Being lied to never results in a good feeling. My attitude towards being lied to often depends on who is lying to me. For example, when my parents lie to me I don't care as much as I do when it's a friend who is lying to me. You can definitely judge how insecure or mature a person is by the frequency of their lying habits.
There was a time when I was lied to by my best friend. It was shocking and upsetting; it made me question how much I should trust people. When they lied to me, I immediately felt insecure and let down. How could my best friend do that to me? Had they been lying ever since we became friends? Are we even real friends? I felt panicked, so I quickly made excuses, insisting they hadn't lied. In the end, my friend had only been trying to keep me from getting hurt. What I learned from that experience was that lying should never be an option. Even if you are trying to protect a friend, you'll end up causing a bigger mess than if you had told the truth in the first place. Lying should always be frowned upon, but the truth is, everyone lies. How ironic.
Ben- I thought the way you wrote your short story was fun and easy to read. It was very realistic and humorous. Nice job!
All throughout their lives, Ferguson and Serge where inseparable. They went to school together from preschool through college. They even majored in the same subject, biomedical engineering, and were hired by the same company immediately after they graduated. Life was going great for them. They were both in serious relationships with beautiful girls, had good jobs with good salaries, and lived in a town with a great public school system. One day after work they both decided to buy a lottery ticket. They went their separated ways and soon turned on their televisions to see if they had one. Ferguson sat in nervous anticipation; phone in hand to call Serge if he did in fact win. The number was dialed, and all he had to do was press the call button. The final number was a 99. It completed Ferguson's perfect lottery ticket. Right as he was about to press the call button, his phone started ringing. He picked up and it was Serge. Breathless and ecstatic Ferguson blurted out that he had won right as Serge exclaimed that he had won. They were silent for a short while. Each listening to the heavy breath of the other. After a short while Serge said "Are you sure you won?"
"Yes." Said Ferguson.
After a long conversation in which few words were said, they decided to split the 30 million dollar jackpot. 15 million dollars was more money than they ever thought they would need.
Both Ferguson and Serge invested their money well, and both were soon tied for the richest person in the world. They spent a while talking about what to do with all their money and soon concluded that much of it would go to charity, an exorbitant amount would be kept, and the still more would be pooled together to buy a private island for them and their families. Two weaker men might have grown apart under such circumstances, but Ferguson and Serge grew even closer.
That was actually me, Noah Huizenga. Andrew didn't sign out.
Ian- I found your post to be very convoluted. I understood a few of the lines, but you probably should have discussed the few things that would make in necessary for somebody to lie to you.
Being lied to as a little kid is like being told that you aren't good enough. You know that the words coming out of the adult or older kids mouth are irrational and stupid; it makes you feel inferior for someone to treat you like an idiot. Clearly little kids aren't at the same level as adults or older kids in terms of maturity or intellect but their smart enough to know when their being lied to.
Little kids are only given a small sense of the world because their perception is based on what they are told at school, home, and by older kids. Its a way of protecting children from bad things in the world so that they can grow up with the good morals and optimism. The down side to this is that they don't know why certain things are wrong or bad, so their choices can imp erred by not having an equal understanding of both right and wrong.
Personally, whenever someone lied to me in my life,it maid me think less of them. If I know that someone is lying directly to my face it changes the way I think about that person. I want to tell them to stop but I let them keep talking to see how little repeat they have for me and themselves. I think the most common reason why people lie is because of their own insecurities. If their that uncomfortable with the truth that they feel the need to trick themselves and others into believing a fabrication than they need to figure themselves out. Lying makes me mad and feel like I've been disrespected but more than anything else it makes me putty the person who lies to me.
Sumner-
Thats a good point, being lied to by someone really close to you like your best friend sucks. It brings up a lot of questions about the relationship between you and it lowers the respect you have for that person and you feel let down. I think you did a good job explaining your personal connotations for lying and relating it to your own life.
6.
Two people split lottery ticket winnings. They each won one million dollars. They get very excited at first and do not know what to do with it. They are both very different people and spend the money very differently and at much different rates. One of them gets crazy over the money and spends it very fast on high luxuries and eventually runs out. This is before the other winner. The other winner saves his money and spends it wisely. He lives his life as if he hadn't won and ends up saving most of his money. There is a vast difference in the way these people used and saved the money. One spent it fast and gained nothing and the other saved it and ended up with much more and much better off.
Deceit. In dictionary terms, deceit is the act of deceiving, tricking, or concealing. Deceit contains both good and bad meanings depending on the context and situation it is used in. As an example of a good meaning, a man full of deceit could be a magician since he can trick others into believing what is not true. In this specific case, without deceit, a person cannot make a living as a magician or will not gain popularity. Robbers also need deceit in order to have successful steals and robberies. Although this act is considered morally wrong in many cultures, in the robber’s perspective, deceit is a necessary asset in order to succeed. Authors also require characters with deceit to fill certain roles within their writing. All well-written stories need a plot for the reader to get hooked into. Usually there are good and bad characters competing against each other, and the bad characters generally possess the deceit. Deceit is an important attribute for creating an interesting story.
When one thinks of deceit, they immediately think of all the evil, horrible aspects of society. Robbers have deceit which is good for them, but this would be bad for the people around the robbers. Cunning people who try to cheat others use deceit to trick the people around themselves. The very act of wanting to trick people is very evil indeed. Stories have good reasons for using deceit, but the characters inside can be considered bad. Foxes are stereotypically thought of as cunning, deceitful characters. They always try to trick other characters into doing what they want them to do. This is also true for humans too. Overall, deceit can be used in helpful ways for society or in unhelpful ways. It depends on which perspective one looks at in order to determine whether the deceit is used in a good or bad way.
Nick-
I also agree with your ideas of how two people who won the lottery can spend their money in different ways. I thought you could have added some more specifics on exactly what items/luxuries they spent their money on. It would make your comment more interesting to the reader.
Yolanda stood in line at her local gas station in a small Missouri town. It was her 18th birthday and she waited anxiously to get a lottery ticket. She told everyone in the gas station about her excitement. It was her turn and she picked her favorite numbers 3 and 19. She reached into her purse to pay for the ticket but she somehow misplaced her wallet. The cute stranger behind her who saw her disappointment came to the rescue and paid for the ticket. She couldn’t think of a way to thank him. He jokingly wrote down his number and told her to call him if she won and they would split the 20 million.
Two months later Yolanda was watching the news and she saw a headline about a lottery winner not collecting their winnings. She forgot about her birthday lottery ticket! She checked her ticket and the winning numbers and to her surprise she won! She was an honest person and she did promise the mystery man half of the money. She thought he was cute and this was a good excuse to call him.
Fred picked up the unknown caller. He had almost forgotten all about the instance with Yolanda. He was a strong believer in karma. He picked up the phone and recognized Yolandas loving voice on the other line. He couldn’t believe the news. He knew just what he had to do. They arranged to meet at a coffee place to discuss the good news.
They decided to split their winnings. Fred had plans to donate his winnings to the poor while Yolanda planned her lavish life style. Despite their differences, they both really liked each other. Yolanda felt bad that Fred would not get to experience the money like she planned to. She wanted to reach out to him. After a week, Yolanda finally got the courage to ask him out and now they live happily ever after.
Hansol-
I agree with your ideas on deceit. The examples in your post helped prove your points
“Jennifer Lopez Breaks Down on Stage” from People Magazine on 0ctober 23, 2011. This article is about Jennifer Lopez crying at a concert about her recent divorce from Marc Anthony. My story is….
What ever happened to Jenny from the block? Her career has gone down the toilet, her marriage has failed and she has now lost custody of her two three year-old twins. Life couldn’t get any bleaker for America’s sweetheart. The singer went from hotel to hotel across the country performing at any small venue she could get to try and get her life back on track, but it didn’t seem to be working. She felt lonely and sad and just wanted to have her old life back. The night seemed to be a night like any other; JLo arrived at a tiny, decrepit venue in the middle of nowhere to find only 12 people had shown up to see her perform. Jennifer pondered whether or not she had hit rock bottom. She sat in her cold, sad dressing room, her bones aching from exhausting and her head throbbing from lack of sleep. Mindy, her assistant, scurried over to tell Jennifer it was time to go out on stage but before she could even finish her sentence JLo hissed at Mindy and demanded she get out of her dressing room at once. She had become a monster. Jennifer then gave herself a pep talk while looking into the mirror yelling at herself to get it together. Never had she looked so tired with deep bags sagging under her eyes and her back hunched over like she was an old woman. She forced herself down the hall and out to the stage where she was coldly greeted by scattered applause and an uninterested audience. Before she could even get out the words for her first song Jennifer burst into tears. She started spitting snot and wailing as the crowd looked on with horrified faces. She had hit rock bottom and finally broken down after weeks of bottling up her emotions. At least she got some media attention out of it!
Emily-
I really liked your story and it's happy fairytale ending! This seems like it could be a movie...I would have loved to see Yolanda's character developed more and learn more about her but otherwise nice work!
“Homecoming, and Going” a headline from the Valley News on October 23, 2011. The Dartmouth football team beat Columbia during their Homcoming weekend.
It was the semi-finals of the soccer playoffs. Two strong teams, Bedford and Oyster River competed for the chance to go play in the finals. Bedford being ranked number one in division two, arrogantly waited to have their Homecoming weekend during post-season playoffs, so sure they would win. The game took place at Bedford’s home stadium. Over two hundred Bedford students came to cheer on their team, only to biting their nails at half-time with the score 1-0. Rain poured down as the two teams fought hard for a chance to play in the finals at SNHU. But it wasn’t until the final wistle did the Bedford fans shrink away embarrassed at a 4-0 lose. Truly Bedford was Homecoming, and going, not getting a chance to continue their season after a humiliating defeat over ninth seeded Oyster River. Oyster River went on to lose drastically in the finals to Hanover.
Kendra- i like how you made your article something that anyone from hhs could relate to. Good job adding details about how the food hit mr. smith, but I think this article has potential to be a lot more descriptive, you could of added more details about how the coop looked after the food fight...etc
Cinderella-Prince Charming's Point of View
I had been waiting impatiently for this night to come. The one night where I could possibly find the love of my life. This night could be a life changer. Because tonight was the ball. Whoever would it end up being? I watched the clock as the seconds passed. Soon, it was time to get ready. I got dressed in my attire, and went downstairs to greet the guests. Then, I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen before. She was in a gorgeous blue dress, with shining hair, and sparkling blue eyes. I went to greet her, and when I did, I got a returning smile and a "hello".
I asked her to dance, and as we did, I felt we were in our own world. I looked into her eyes and they were shimmering so beautifully in the light. Her smile so elegant and graceful. Although, when the clock struck twelve she ran away in a hurry. She was gone. All that was left from her was one of the glass slippers. I had to find that girl; she was the one love for me.
We went around to every house and had everyone try on the glass slipper. No one had fit into it yet, I was so disappointed I wouldn't see her again. Not too long after, we went to one house where these two awful sisters lived. Neither of them fit in the shoe (Thank Goodness), and then there she was. She came down the stairs and sat down. Her foot slid in the shoe like it was designed for her; a perfect fit. She was my true love.
Molly-
I really liked yours. You were really creative and it was good to read. Nice job!!
Deceit is something we all have seen at some point in our lives. It is commonly displayed on survivor, when one man deceives another to win the cash prize. It can also be observed in instances where a robber evades the police. Indeed, the word deceit has a whole host of negative associations. Trickery, evilness, and outright fraud come to mind when we think about trickery. The people who manipulate or cheat are people who we usually do not want to put our faith in, but are they all bad? Is deception always a sin? Consider this: Robin Hood. That tale you have probably heard have at some point in your life, steal from the rich, and give to the poor. Cunning and selfless describe Robin Hood, however real he may be. But stealing, cheating and scamming the rich is also deceit. So therefore it cannot be all evilness. The dictionary defines deceit as the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Sure, there are those who deceive simply for the enjoyment of the hurt of others, but also note those who must deceive for a reason. The thief, who is just a man who might have three children with neither money nor food at home. Think about the actors, who’s approval rating is centered on the drama of betrayal. Before one judges another with a poor reputation, remember that deceit is not always a black and white matter. Remember that nothing is as black and white as it seems.
Hailey, your story was rich in detail, which made it very interesting to read. Great job!
Frank saw the man in his row and immediately turned to find the flight attendant. “Excuse me. Are there any other seats available?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. The flight is completely booked. If necessary, I can ask another passenger to switch seats.”
“That’s all right. I think I’ll be ok.”
Steve shoved his bag in the overhead compartment and took his seat by the window, prepared for the long flight ahead. Through his headphones, Steve heard a voice.
“Steve? Steve Johnson?” Steve looks up and sees Frank Miller, the man who ruined his life only five years ago. At and utter loss for words, Steve took off his headphones and just stared.
“Frank Miller. You worked for my company for what? Ten years?”
“I remember. I just didn’t expect to see you on the same flight to Australia. Where are you sitting?”
“Here, actually. I’m going to visit a friend for a few days.”
Steve felt his anger begin to rise. He had not prepared himself to be trapped next to the guy who fired him and forced him, his wife, and their child to move in the Steve’s parents. For months he went looking for jobs, never getting a call after the interview. A year and a half later, he got a job as a local school bus driver, which barely paid for food. Every day for two years, he thought to himself all of the things he would do to this guy if….
“So what have you been up to?”
“Umm…. Well, I have two kids now. Eight and two.”
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“You came to my wedding about ten years ago.”
“Oh. I guess I just don’t remember.”
“No? Well, anyways. How have you been? And don’t you normally sit in First Class?”
“I decided it was time to change it up a bit.”
Sure, Steve thought to himself as the plane lifted into the air. He’d read about the company going bankrupt.
“What do you do now?” Frank asked.
“I’m actually the CEO of a major corporation now. You?”
“Actually the company closed a year ago, so I’m working on a fresh start. In Australia, actually.”
The only thing that went through Steve’s mind was that he would never have to see Frank after this. “That’s great,” he said, forcing a fake smile.
Frank smiled back, his eyes completely dead, giving himself away. Frank, embarrassed that Steve was now doing better than he was, slouched in his seat and didn’t say another word to Steve for the rest of the awkward flight.
Rainie- Your story was very good. I liked how you had them meet back up and win and everything turned out better the next time. I think you could add more detail about their competitiveness, like more examples of the things they competed about, but otherwise it was very good. Great job!
It all started with $50 million. Well, for Denis Mathrson, $25 million. In 2004, Denis and his best friend and roommate, Markov were running very low on money. With no special skill sets or ideas to get rich quick, they decided that they would buy lottery numbers every week, and if they were to win, they would split the winnings.
On August 27, 2010 Markov and Denis sat on the couch infront of their faded television to view the lottery numbers as they did for the past 4 years. The numbers were called in the same manner, but nothing would be the same again. They had hit the big jackpot: $50 million; $25 million for each. Markov was overjoyed. He could finally pay all his college loans, buy his own place, and send money back to his parents in Russia. Unbeknownst to Markov, Denis owed a bookie a lot of money. Not only did Denis want the money, he needed it to pay off his huge debts. Denis had no choice; he had to kill his best friend.
Matheson was no deliberate and thoughtful man; he was a man of action. As soon as the numbers were announced he told Markov to make reservations at the finest restaurant in town to celebrate. Thrilled, Markov got the phone and started dialing the numbers. Matheson coolly walked into kitchen, picked up to knife and leaped on his best friend. Before Markov realized what was happening, Denis stabbed him twice in the stomach. As Denis held the bloodied kitchen knife in his callused hands, ready to plunge the weapon for the 3rd and final time into Markov, a sudden wave of nostalgia overcame him. He remembered the great times he had with Markov before the lottery winnings entered the picture. But the money was too much. The possibilites were too great. He had come too far to turn back now. Denis let out a bloodcurdling scream, and thrust the knife into Markov's heart.
"Goodbye, my friend" he whispered in a very clichéd manner, as he started to clean up the mess.
Minutes after hearing that they had won the lottery, Dave and Rick rushed quickly to the gas station where they bought the ticket to receive their winnings. The glass nearly broke on the door as they barged though a couple to get to the counter. Dave pulled the winning ticket out of his wallet and slammed in to the counter with joy, startling the attendant. It took a while for all the paperwork to be organized but after two hours of chaos, the men finally received their beloved money. Rick schemed buy a house in Hawaii and life off his 40 million dollars for the rest of his life. Unlike Rick, Dave had a family and had been saving up to pay for school for his 3 young children. Dave put away 10 million dollars in his bank account and intended on investing a good portion of the remains, after he took his wife on a magical vacation.
Hawaii was going extremely well for Rick. He surfed everyday and drove around the island in his black ferrari. The money seemed to be burning a hole in his pocket. He felt that he always had to get the new best thing. He was very generous and donated money to local organizations, but he didn't budget his money. He threw it around like it was ordinary paper.
Dave's family was living a stable, enjoyable life. He was able to do all of his childhood dreams like writing a novel and going heli skiing. He paid close attention to his money without losing time with his family. His investments went up and he had more money than he had ever dreamed. His children were just beginning college and he taught them how to manage their money responsibly.
Shortly after winning the 80 million dollar lottery with his best friend Dave, Rick was broke and didn't know how to make a living for himself. He believed that he was able to coast his way through life and never knew what it was like to support himself. Dave, soon realized his friends problems and helped him get back on his feet and start a new life. The lottery can be a blessing for some, but a destruction for others.
Aditya - I thought that your story was funny and interesting to follow. You added some comedic suspense. Very well Done.
To me, lying is the worst thing that one can possibly do. It is the exact opposite of justice, and sets a person in a position where they lose regardless of the outcome. Allow me to explain: even if a person is successful in meeting the intended outcome of their situation through lying, he/she will forever carry the guilt of falsehood on their shoulders until they confess that they have done wrong. Consequently, when one DOES confess, those who have been affected by the person's actions are ultimately in the ideal position to label that person as dishonest. No one wins in a lie.
Telling the truth is such an easy thing to do; people often overlook the amount of stress that inevitably comes with a lie. Without truth, there is no reality. Without reality, people aren't able to distinguish what is morally right from what is unacceptable. Unfortunately, I have known people who do not have a solid perception of reality; therefore, they don't understand how their actions affect others. They are selfish, socially oblivious failures who I tend to spend as much time away from as possible.
I am against anything that negatively interferes with the well-being of other people. By that logic, I certainly don not welcome liars into my life at all.
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Evan, I appreciate how you showed both possibilities of the lottery situation. It was an interesting choice to write about both possible extremes of the scenario. Good job!
two men decided to buy a few lottery tickets and decided that, if one of them wins, they split the profit. With the little luck they had, they won $10,000,000 dollars! The biggest lottery ever. The two menu being very different people, one very greedy and one very giving, spent the money in very different ways. Luckily, the man who won was the generous one because the greedy man was planning to keep all of the money. The greedy man took his half and went and bought a new house and furnished the entire house with lots of unnecessary things. THe Giving man gave $4,000,000 to lots of different charities and kept $1,000,000 to save. After a few years, the greedy man notice all of his money was disappearing in bills he had to pay and had to give his house to the government because he was so deep in debt and is now homeless. the generous man lived happily and comfortably for the rest of his life.
Kendra-
I love the description in the first part about Mr. Smith. Your story was also very clever. Good job.
Winning the Lottery
Two friends, Sylvie and Kenny, luckily won the lottery of a million dollars They decided to split the money equally and part ways. Kenny bought a private jet and spent 3 years touring the world. He saw many countries and people in many parts of the world. Kenny's favorite place was Guatemala, he enjoyed the culture and food there. He especially loved the fish, there was so many different species.
Meanwhile, Sylvie was trying to find Atlantis. She had believed in this mystical city since she was a little girl. Sylvie spent thousands of dollars researching this place, and finally set out to find it. After four years of not finding anything, and broke, she went home. Kenny had spent too much money on plane fuel. In four years, Kenny and Sylvie had spent 3 million dollars. They both got jobs at a local bank and continued to buy lottery tickets in hopes for another lucky draw.
Des -
I like your response because it goes into the mindset of many people. It was a little harsh in places but overall i liked it! nice job!
The two men went back to work that day a lot richer, and those around them wanted to know what had happened, but the details were never revealed. Well, I was there, and I watched it happen.
They stood there, unbelieving of what they held in their hands. On the one side, Richard, who had played the lotto religiously for years; on the other, Chris, who had lent half the money for today's ticket as a joke. Every day Richard bought a ticket, and every day Chris joked that he was throwing away his money, that he could never beat the odds. Neither quite wanted to let go of the ticket they held between them, something that both vindicated and mocked Richard's efforts and hopes. They both faced an unspoken question: who did the ticket belong to? The laws of investment to return demanded that they split it, but what share did Richard deserve? They stood at the counter, each holding the ticket between finger and thumb, and looked at it, and looked at it. Finally Chris spoke:
"I don't know about exactly why you should win now, but I know that I don't deserve this. I treated you like a crazy man all those years, and I was wrong to do that. The money is yours."
Richard didn't speak. He stood there, and he thought. He was torn between the ultimate I-told-you-so moment and doing what he knew to be right. And you already know what happened, but I was there behind that counter, and none of us could tell.
Sophie,
This was an interesting story, and had a clear moral to it. The tale was very creative, and I enjoyed reading it. You had a couple of punctuation mistakes, but the essay overall was great.
-James
Carlos wrinkled his nose in disgust as Jose peeled away the tin foil from his fragrant burrito. Being a vegetarian, the stench of meat drove Carlos almost to tears. The back of the cab was now filled with the smell of plastic-y cheese and burnt tortilla. The two had been business partners for almost 10 years now; however, they had not yet gotten used to their daily commute to work. There was always something one did that irked the other. Carlos tried his hardest to distract himself from the sound of beans sloshing around in Jose’s mouth, but it was too much to bear. His temples began to throb as he lay his red face in his hands, anger burning in his veins. That was it; he had lost all sanity. He decided if he was going to win this one, he must fight fire with fire. Digging into his lunch box, he pulled out a can of tofu; Jose’s worst nightmare.
Jose stopped chewing watched with sheer terror as Carlos proceeded to mash the tofu with a fork, creating a nauseating paste. Carlos began to eat his tofu, making obnoxious smacking sounds with his lips to annoy Jose. The two began to chew and slurp louder and louder, trying to annoy the other. After 10 straight minutes of cannibalistic eating noises, the cab driver lost it. He turned around, steam practically coming out of his ears with pure rage. “STOP EATING!!!”
The cab driver was so angry that he left the wheel to turn around and yell at them. Carlos and Jose felt the cab lurch as it swerved into the opposite lane of traffic. CRASH. BANG. BOOM. And that was the end to that!
James-
I really liked your response. The outcome was quite a surprise; I really wasn't expecting someone to give up their lottery money!
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