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Vandera in Gathering Blue

                     Vandara the antagonist in the story Gathering Blue was known.Throughout the village "People whispered about her . She was known, and respected . Or fear". She is a  leader in the village but I think that comes because the rest of the village fears her.She was very mean. After Kira's mother died she went and took carrots from the garden that Kira and her mother had planted and counted on to eat the vegetables grown in it(pg. 13).She also was described as scary looking with tangled hair and a "ragged scar that marked her chin and continued down her neck to her broad shoulder " . The rumor was that she battled one of the forest creatures. No one else including Kira's father survived a clawing from the beasts of the forest(Pg 15) .She also used the way she looked and her reputation to be a bully and take what ever she wanted because not many people stood up to her. She just decided to claim Kira's catt after her mother's death . When Kira objected she picked up a rock and others followed because they were used to her leading.They all looked at her to be instructed on what to do next(pg. 16). They probably saw her as a protector because there weren't so many men around and she was the tough one .Things would probably be different if she wasn't there.

           The villagers don't really agree with her choices but go along because they fear her.When surrounded by the crowd holding rocks Kira reminded them that if there was any village conflict that could bring death they must go to the Council of Guardians.Then she appealed to the group"in need of their support.She appealed not to their sympathy ,because they have none, but to their fear".That's when the women remembered that "the causer -of-death must die(pg 17)."Even with that after they dropped the rocks Vandara said "no need for us to waste a life getting rid of her" She went on to say that she was going to be her accuser to the Council of Guardians  and that they would have her ground and give her to the beast by the next day(pg 18).  They seemed to go along with what ever caused the least trouble.  Vandara's a leader that really likes to let her followers believe that she is very strong.After everyone put down the rocks and decided to go to the Council of Guardians she stroked the scar on her throat and said,"I remember what it was like to see your own blood pour upon the ground.I survived because of my strength". She went on to say that by tomorrow night Kira would have wished she had died with her mother because she will never survive the forest beast like she did( pg 18).This shows that her relationship with the others is they just go along because they don't want her to dislike them and maybe send them out to the forest where they will have to fight the beasts.

Blue Gathering Kira's work: Freedom or Confinement by Jimmy Palladino (Final)

      Matt is concerned when Kira becomes an employee for the council and they may never see each other anymore. Matt is concerned because he knows that if Kira goes to be an employee of the council will make her work for her life because she has to record the future of their people. One reason that shows Matt's concern is when he says with a concerned expression "You don't be captive here, do you?"on page 62. This shows Matt's concern because he asking if the council keeps their employees captive in their rooms or lets them go outside. He also expresses his concern when, on page 142 he tells Kira about the girl singer named Jo and Thomas says that he was locked in a room, and then Kira says "You were held captive".  This shows that Matt has heard of people like Kira and Thomas and he might have been fearful of Kira joining the council's employment and being locked up in a room. This shows how Matt is concerned about Kira being employed by the council of guardians.
      There is a question as to how free Kira and Thomas are, even though they have more freedom then Jo does. They can be considered captive because even though they have mastered something the council gives them like the staff, or Jo's song they will have to continue to master it and record the future events. One example that shows this is true is on page 116 when the narrator says " Kira touched the place hi [Jamison's] hand lay. Kira tried to determine whet her fingers would feel the magic there. But there was only emptiness." This shows how she feels captive because she doesn't feel that she can do her work at her best at that desk without her magical talent with her. Another example of this is when Kira was in bed and she thought to herself on page 153 "Kira knew that although her door was not locked, she was not really free. Her life limited to these things and this work." This shows how Kira knows that she is doomed to be just the threader and nothing else because she has to record the future events of the village. This is how Kira and Thomas are questioning the freedom that they have even though they have more freedom then other people in the Edifice.
      At a certain point in the story, Kira no longer feels like she is really free, for she has a new burden to bear. An example of this is when she is thinking about her future in page 153 "The robe did not belong to her, though she was learning its story through her work. She would almost be able to tell the history now that it had passed through her fingers, now that she had focused on it so closely for so many days. But it was not what her hands or heart yearned to do." This shows that Kira doesn't feel like she's free because she can't do what her heart yearns to do anymore and she has but one thing to do is create new pictures on the robe. Another example is on page 116 when Jamison is telling her what to do "He seemed to sense he uncertainty and reassured her."Don't worry" he said "We will explain what to you what we want pictured here." This shows that she's losing her freedom because she can't even decide what to do for the pictures of the future and also that she is starting to lose trust in the council because their forcing her to do stuff she doesn't want to do. This shows that Kira at a certain point no longer feels like she is really free because she has no creative expression.
      In the last chapters, even though she doesn't feel like she's free she chooses to remain in the Edifice. Kira does this because she might feel that her art is the only way she is of any real use to village. She can be considered free because she now has the power to show what the future holds in her hands, and make a new chapter in the villages history. This may or may not be what the reason that Kira opted to go back into the Edifice, but I can only guess that this is the reason that she did what she did.

Time Out

                People always ask me " how did you get so good at soccer?" I always tell them magic. I'm going to tell you how i got so good. i was playing with my soccer team. We had just made it to the championship. We were playing a great t team we were down by 1 only two seconds left on the clock they passed the ball to me. I didn't now what to do. I got scared I closed my eyes when I opened them, everything was  frozen. Had I just frozen time? yes. I saw the clock 1 second left. I took advantage of the time and scored. We went to penalties. Our goalie blocked a goal, so it was all on me now. If I scored we won. I closed my eyes again wean I opened them every thing was frozen again and I took a shot and scored every thing unfroze and people thought I was moving in super sonic speed. I tr yd to do it at home but it wouldn't work. It only worked when I was under alto of pressure in a soccer game. People my think off it as cheating but I think of it as a gift. So now you now my secret so don't tell anybody.   

Time Out

                People always ask me " how did you get so good at soccer?" I always tell them magic. I'm going to tell you how i got so good. i was playing with my soccer team. We had just made it to the championship. We were playing a great t team we were down by 1 only two seconds left on the clock they passed the ball to me. I didn't now what to do. I got scared I closed my eyes when I opened them, everything was  frozen. Had I just frozen time? yes. I saw the clock 1 second left. I took advantage of the time and scored. We went to penalties. Our goalie blocked a goal, so it was all on me now. If I scored we won. I closed my eyes again wean I opened them every thing was frozen again and I took a shot and scored every thing unfroze and people thought I was moving in super sonic speed. I tr yd to do it at home but it wouldn't work. It only worked when I was under alto of pressure in a soccer game. People my think off it as cheating but I think of it as a gift. So now you now my secret so don't tell anybody.   

Time Out

                People always ask me " how did you get so good at soccer?" I always tell them magic. I'm going to tell you how i got so good. i was playing with my soccer team. We had just made it to the championship. We were playing a great t team we were down by 1 only two seconds left on the clock they passed the ball to me. I didn't now what to do. I got scared I closed my eyes when I opened them, everything was  frozen. Had I just frozen time? yes. I saw the clock 1 second left. I took advantage of the time and scored. We went to penalties. Our goalie blocked a goal, so it was all on me now. If I scored we won. I closed my eyes again wean I opened them every thing was frozen again and I took a shot and scored every thing unfroze and people thought I was moving in super sonic speed. I tr yd to do it at home but it wouldn't work. It only worked when I was under alto of pressure in a soccer game. People my think off it as cheating but I think of it as a gift. So now you now my secret so don't tell anybody.   

A magical day Final

Jason Millan                                                                                                                      4/12/08
Ms. Hill

    My magical day was when I woke up one day and everything was weird. Then I noticed that there was a giant pencil in my room. It was as big as me. Then I picked it up and drew a picture. Then all of a sudden the picture came to life. It was a doodle of some guy. Then it started to move and talk to me. Then I got freaked out so I killed him with the magical eraser. I enjoyed killing him because I was at the same time torturing him. First I took off his legs, then his mouth so no one could here him screaming in a winy voice. After that I took away his arms, then there was only his body and head, so I decided to stop and just take away his heart. Once I did so, he  right away died.
    After that strange moment I through his dead body out the window, I did not feel like erasing him. Then I drew other doodles. This time I killed them by drowning in the bath tub one at a time. I put up signs that said there was ice cream inside. They dumb enough to believe me and they went. This was one of my favorite parts because I'm not killing people only pretend doodles. It was very fun.
    Then some were mad at me so they tried to kill me. I just drew some acid and threw it on them. They died. So, more of them came and I drew a gun and shot them. Then one of them stabbed me in the heart. I pulled out the knife and erased the injuries then stabbed him with it and it was funny. Then I decided that this was cruel. So, I drew a nuclear bomb. I thought it would be best and end their suffering. Then I threw them in a dome that could not be destroyed by anything, except the pencil. Then I put the bomb inside and watched them die threw an indestructible window. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen.
    Ever since that day I do that when I am board. Also I still have that pencil. Also when people get me mad I erase them away forever. SO, don't get me mad. This was my magical day.

                                                                                           END

                                                                                           

The Traslator

                      There once was a boy named Robby. When he was little his parents noticed that Robby really liked to hear people speak. It didn't really matter what language thay were speaking .At first they thought that he was just a nosey little boy but then one day when   Robby was about six years old ,his parents took him into New York City around Christmas time to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. The city was very crowded and there were alot of tourists . Robby loved hearing all of the languages being spoken all around him. By the time he and his parents left the city that day Robby had picked up parts of three different languages. He was speaking Spanish , some French and even a little Japanese. He would say something and then his parents would ask what he had said and he would translate it for them. At first they thought he was pretending so they were playing along with him, but then his Dad started to buy dictionaries in different languages so that he could check and see if he was really telling the truth. They realized that he was and soon after went on vacation to Greece. They figured they could test out his talent there. After 2 days, Robby was helping the tour guide thanslate for all of the Americans on vacation. Everyone couldn't believe it!

                          Over the next few years Robby traveled to other countries like Portugal and Spain. Each time he returned from a trip he would know another language.People were starting to hear about Robby and couldn't believe it. They thought it was some kind of scam. Soon people from all over were showing up to "test " him. A Korean woman came and had a conversation with him .Within  a half hour he could speak the language.After that a boy from Morocco that just moved into the neighborhood came to speak to Robby. He was so happy to at least have someone his age to talk to. Everyday people would stop by just to see him learn thier language.After months of people stopping by to see if this was true, Robby was invited to appear on the Oprah Show. He was a little nervous but once he got started he began to feel better. Oprah pulled different people out of the audience and had them speak to him in different languages. In a half hour Robby spoke Swaheeli, German, Arabic and Polish. The audience was stunned. He got a standing ovation. By the time he graduated High School , Robby learned 36 different languages. He and his parents did alot of traveling and he made alot of telivision appearences all over the world. He was also on 60 Minutes. People had never seen such a gift before and he became very famous. At the age of 20, he was offered a job to work as a Translator fo the United Nations. He was very happy to get the job. He gets to travel all over the world . He hopes to learn every language by the time he's 40.

             

Magical Talents by Jimmy Palladino (Final)

   

  I have seen and have a few talents and some of them I think are magical. One of these things I've seen and posses is a talent for artwork, and there are many ways you can use this talent for the enjoyment out of many people. I think this is a magical ability because it's really amazing how people can make something from a blank page and turn it into a work of art. I also think this because you can use different mediums in order to make different works of art and there's so much space for different styles, ways to do one drawing, and infinite possibilities to a drawing. Finally, I think that if you put your mind to it, you can make any kind of art even if it doesn't seem like it's good it might end up in a museum somewhere. This is why I feel that creating artwork is a magical talent and how it seems to me that anyone can do it if they put there mind to it.
     I have also seen some people demonstrating the talent of sewing and making beautiful kinds of things. I think this is a magical ability because if you work at it and really try you can make things like clothing, blankets, sweaters, etc. I also think that if you really take time to practice it you can make beautiful designs or, or if you don't like that my mom makes these baby baskets and the little pieces of clothing are so well done. Finally, if you feel that you can go professional you can probably make a living out of sewing if that's your goal to do. So that is how I feel that the talent to sew is a magical talent to have.

     So to sum it all up I think these talents like others are magical abilities that you can use to the advantage of you and for others to marvel at. I think that there are many different ways to use your talent for the benefit of yourself and other people and there are many ways to make something using your special talent. I also feel that you can make something out of just a blank page or pieces of yarn to make a beautiful work of art or beautiful patterns.

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

On the Monday after Easter ,I didn’t have to go to school and my mom had the day off from work. We decided that  we would spend the day in the city at Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. I invited my best friend Joey and my mom asked her friend that works for her is she and her son would also want to come. They said they would come and also bought another boy along. I hadn’t been there in a couple of years and the other three boys were never there ,so we were all looking forward to it.

          We all met up at Grand Central Station in

New York City

at about noon and walked over to the wax museum. There must have been a lot of people with the same idea because the line was out the door and once inside it zigzagged like the ones at

Great

Adventure

Theme Park

. We waited patiently until we purchased our tickets. Then we went up the stairs and on to the elevator. The first exhibit floor of the museum is set up like a party of a lot of celebrities kind of mingling and talking to each other. Some of them look so real! Since I hadn’t been there in a while I notice some new wax people. There is even a blushing Jennifer Lopez and a Brittney Spears that appears to be breathing! You could even sing a song for American Idol and hear Simon Cowel’s comment afterwards! The only thing missing was the amusement park like ride that the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in

London

has. My mom and I liked that one ,also. We were there last July for my Birthday.

          After that we were all pretty hungry and stopped over at Planet Hollywood for an early dinner. That’s always fun because you can look around at all of the movie memorabilia displayed while your having dinner.  I thought that was a great way to spend a Monday but, the next day it was back to school for everyone.

pupies

On March 6 my dog had 7 puppies. My dog at first had 4 puppies and we were happy but we thought she was going to have 8. When I came from school she was going to give birth but my dog was waiting for my brother and cousins when every body was there she was giving birth and I was happy. In 1 hour she had four puppies and we were surprised that she had four because we thought she was going to have more. But when we thought it was over she had three more. The five one was going to die because it was droning. My family was scared but my dog gave it a little nibble and it started crying. It was very amazing to see how dogs know what to do. Me and my sister want to keep a puppy but my brother doesn’t want to keep one. He I s selling them but I now when the puppies get bigger he’s going to change his mine. It is a lot of work to take care of a puppy but its worth it. My puppies were apost to be golden but they came out to be more white. It was weird that they were white because my dog and the father is really gold. Only one or two are gold. Right now the puppies are one month old. They got big and they could start to walk. They are teething and they want to bite your finger. I feel bad for the smallest one because all the other puppies mess around with it. And the smallest one is the gold one my. Family says that all the other puppies are jealous. But now it became binger and none of them pick on it. In one more month my hole family is going to be sad my dog is going to be sad because we have to sell them. But we will always remember them.