Narrative Twist

“Love or Jealousy”

By: Sofia A

The king had a daughter with beauty and grace. Loved by all and had the heart of the king. Overprotected and shielded by almost everything, the princess felt too controlled. She found the company of a young man who was as loved as she. Although the two of them loved each other deeply, the princess often saw a commoner throwing glances of admiration to her lover. Doubt crossed her mind, but never once had she thought of it becoming anything serious. The princess was in love and nothing she saw or heard would change that.

After months of this affair the king finds out. With the rage of a bull the king thinks of ways to punish the two. The king ruled by decree that the man would be put on trial in his amphitheater. He thought that it would be punishment enough for the both of them because whatever happens the two would not have each other. If the man picks the door with the tiger than he will die, but if he picks the door with the lady then the princess would have to experience her lover get married to someone else. With triumph in his heart the king pats himself on the back. Meanwhile the princess knows she has to do something about it.

Torn between letting him live or letting him die, she spends her days in anguish. Her humane and inhumane sides are fighting between her and telling her to do the opposite things. This is where the princess

Finally the night before the trial arrived. The only things on her side is that she knows where the lady is held and who the lady is. For the lady is another beautiful maiden who has been caught by the princess admiring the man. At the time the princess barely thinks anything of it. Although now she is outraged by the thought of her marrying her lover. Jealousy oozes out of her and she finally decides what to do.

The next morning the king and princess took their seats in the front of the amphitheater. The princess did not want to attend but her barbaric side told her otherwise. As the man entered the arena everyone in the crowd gazed at astonishment, for he gleamed with confidence. Many who had entered were shaking and crying, but he was different. All because he knew that the princess would tell him exactly what to do. As the man walked up to where the king and princess sat he stared at her waited for  some sign.

Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the man in the arena.

The princess saw the man dash for the door on the right and a grin appeared on her face. She was thinking of the future, of how this one decision would change her life forever. As the man approached the door he hesitated and finally opened the door. Screams and shrieks came from all sides of the arena. The man stepped back and was in shock. Cold and bloody was the lady lying there on the ground lifelessly. The princesses motive was simple. She did not want him to die so she told him to open the door with the lady so his life would continue. She killed her because she thought that there would be nobody else for the man to marry. The princess smiled and almost laughed when she saw the face of her father. His cheeks red with anger and his eyebrows busheled with frustration. He grabbed the girl and threw her to the ground shouting horrible words out of embarrassment. Meanwhile the man stood there unaware of what to do.

For the next thing the king did was shout, “I will not stand to be tricked and deceived! My daughter has killed the lady so she could take this man for herself. If it is the last thing I know it is that my daughter would have not married this man!”

With that the king ran to a guard and took a sword. Almost shaking the ground with heavy steps he headed towards the man.

Unarmed and scared the man yells toward the king, “Please don’t kill me! I know I have disobeyed you because I have loved your daughter without your permission, but I do not deserve this! Innocent people die everyday because of your poor judgement, please do not let another,”

The king replied while walking instead of running, “ Why would I let you live? You do not truly love my daughter,”

The man said, “That is where you are wrong again. We love each other so much that we would walk the entire world and swim all the oceans just to be with each other. Our love is as strong as the palaces your people built, it can hold as much as weight as the strongest bridge. Please don’t kill me, if you do, your daughter will never love you again,”

The king would have let the man live if it weren’t for the last part of what he just said. The king again ran toward him and impaled the man with the sword. Again shrieks from everywhere were heard and the princess fell to her knees and wept a sea of tears.That day turned into what could have been the happiest day of the princesses life to the worst. From that day forward none of the king’s subjects respected him and like the man had once said the princess no longer loved her father. After the death of the man the king locked the princess in a tower where no man could love her.

After years and years of the princess living in the tower the king finally came to visit her and called, “ Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair.”

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Blog of the Week October 26, 2015

A Year and A Day

By: Leslie Pietrzyk 

P.g: 0- 282

Summary:

The book I am currently reading is A Year and A Day by Leslie Pietrzyk. Alice's mom killed herself, and she must figure out how to manage without guidance, support, and her mother’s famous cooking that comforts her in her darkest hours. Even though she has a brother, he slowly breaks away from her. She hears her mother’s voice when she doesn't want it and needs it when it isn't there. To become comforted she seeks help from different people and finds out secrets from her mother’s past.

Prompts: How the conflict drives character development (causes the character to change)

     There are different conflicts that the main character has deal with in the story. One of the conflicts in the book is that her mother died. She goes through sadness, anger, loneliness, and jealousy throughout the story. For example in the beginning of the book Alice is sad and grieving over her mother. It talks about how she misses her and different things that she is reminded of. This is mentioned throughout the book, but is mostly focused on in the beginning. She also goes through anger in the book. Now she doesn't understand why her mother killed herself when she had two children and responsibilities. Alice blames her mother for her failures and tells herself that she shouldn't be forgiven. Once this stage wear's off Alice becomes very lonely and feels like she is by herself. Many of her friends try to comfort her and talk to her, but she drives them away. Then she realizes that her friends are so lucky to have the lives they have. She becomes jealous of them and thinks she hates them. These are some of the conflicts the main character has to face.

     The main character changes a lot because of these conflicts. She has had to mature way too early. When her mother died she was only 15 years old so she was very young. Her whole life has to fasten up and she has to gain way more responsibilities. Although you would think Alice has to play the grownup role in the family, this is not true. Her older brother ,Will,  has to act like the adult even though their aunt takes care of them. The aunt is described as unusual and delusional. Alice plays the youngest helpless role in the family. Sometimes I think that this has caused her to become more of a child then an adult because she has been pitted the most.

    One way she changed because of these conflicts was that she began to grow feelings for a guy named Joe Fry. He comforted her and made her feel better when she was upset. She changed her idea of who she would like because of her feelings that the conflicts made. In the book Alice says that Joe is a bad boy who skips school and smokes. Alice wouldn't have normally found him interesting, but under the circumstances she felt attracted to him.When Alice felt alone she might have thought that she should make a scene and try to rebel like Joe Fry. Her choice in guys changed. 

   

  

Blog for Week 10-14-15 A Year and A Day by Leslie Pietrzyk

A Year and A Day

By: Leslie Pietrzyk

Prompts: What is the mood of what you’re reading (happy, sad, funny, serious, etc.)?

Defend your idea.

What emotions do you feel about your reading? Describe what is going on in the reading that makes you feel that way.

Pages from 0-240 Reading

   The book I am currently reading is A Year and A Day by Leslie Pietrzyk. Alice's mom killed herself, and she must figure out how to manage without guidance, support, and her mother’s famous cooking that comforts her in her darkest hours. Even though she has a brother, he slowly breaks away from her. She hears her mother’s voice when she doesn't want it and needs it when it isn't there. To become comforted she seeks help from different people and finds out secrets from her mother’s past.

   When I was reading this book the mood was sad. The main character’s mom died so she is grieving over the loss. This girl is feeling like her whole world just ended and she has to go through her awkward teenage years alone. For example Alice, the main character, is found thinking about dying herself. She is wondering what it felt like to be in total control with life and death. Sitting in her car on the train tracks just like her mother did, she thinks about throwing her keys out the window and waiting. As she thinks about this her brother comes up and tells her to get off the tracks with a train coming her way. This was a very powerful moment in the book because it shows how depressed and sad she really is, despite what she tells everybody.

   When I was reading this book, the emotions I felt were wonder, sadness, and that I am very fortunate. In the book the girl’s mother dies so I am very fortunate that I have a mother that is alive and well. In the story when the girl talks about her mother’s death while sitting on the train tracks, I wonder why she killed herself. The mother had two children and no husband, so why leave the kids by themselves? This boggles my mind, I wonder if she felt guilty about her past and wasn't thinking straight when she did it. While reading the book I wonder about all of that. The author did an amazing job of making you feel sad for the main characters loss. In the story when the girl is looking for her mother’s cookbooks for Thanksgiving, she goes through a meltdown because she can't find them. While reading this I feel so sad for her and want to comfort her because of how the author made her feel.

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Banned Books Vlog

Paper Towns 

By: John Green

Commented on:
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Sources:

"About." Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://bannedbooksweek.org/about>.

"About Banned & Challenged Books." American Library Association. American Library Association, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ala.org/bbooks/about>.

Brunner, Borgna. "Banned Books." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-kids-books.html>.

Crum, Maddie. "Banned Books By The Numbers (INFOGRAPHICS)." Huff Post BOOKS. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/banned-books-week-infographic_n_5852234.html>.