My Personal Legend: Five Paragraph Essay

                                                           

                       My Personal Legend: Writing       

             Nothing fills my heart with joy like writing. My earliest memory of it was writing a story about a fairy who lived in a tree in first grade. I could write for the rest of my life by becoming an author. There may be some challenges along the way, like writer's block or lack of readership, but I can handle them. For me, writing is a labor of love. Writing is my personal legend.

                 Ever since I turned six, I knew that I wanted to write. Of course, back then, a large percentage of everything I wrote was a ripoff of my favorite books, and utterly illegible to boot. I like to think that I've improved since then. However, even when I was somewhat unoriginal, I loved writing. I loved being able to create whole worlds with only the stroke of a pencil.

                    Although there are certainly many different ways that I could follow my dream of writing, the one that has always appealed to me the most is becoming an author. After all, who wouldn't like to get paid for doing what they love? However, more than that, I want to share my stories with others. After all, what is the point of writing if there is no one to read? To me, becoming an author seems like the best way to do that.

  

                        Undeniably, there will be challenges along the way to achieving my goal. Adversity is an unavoidable part of life. I might have to endure refusal from publishers, lack of funding or other difficulties, but I know that it will all be worth it if I can accomplish my aim.  When the going gets tough, I will just remember that the trials and tribulations of the moment are not what is important; what is important is the writing. When it comes down to it, what I really need to do, despite everything that may come my way, is to just keep writing. 

               Writing, for me, is a labor of love. Before I began writing, I didn't know what the phrase "a labor of love" meant. Now I know that it means to do something difficult, something that may be harder than anything that you have ever done. It also means that even though what you are doing is hard, it doesn't matter, because what you are doing is something that you love with every fiber of your being, and something that you know is worth the work. That is what writing is to me, and that is why I know that I have to write.
                   
                  So, even though the road to my Personal Legend may be a perilous one, it is one that I have to walk.. My instincts are frequently wrong, but they were irrefutably correct about writing being for me. Someday, when I am an author, I hope to look back on this time in my life as the beginning of my journey toward my dream. While the challenges that await me may loom large on the horizon, as long as I face them with confidence and belief in my goal, I shall emerge triumphant. No matter what happens, I will pursue my labor of love. I conclude this badly written essay with a reminder to you to go through life doing what you love, as I plan to go through mine writing!

I got the image from: 
http://iewnotebook.blogspot.com/2012/03/10-timed-writing-prompts.html                         

Book Review 1: Michael Vey - The Prisoner of Cell 25

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, by Richard Paul Evans, is about a boy named Michael Vey who can shock people with more voltage than an electric eel. He tries to keep his power a secret, but after he shocks some bullies, a girl named Taylor who saw him do it reveals that she also had electrical powers. She can "reboot" people (temporarily make them forget what they were doing) and read minds (but only when touching people). Together with Michael's best friend, Ostin, Michael and Taylor form a club. They discover that a machine, called the MEI, was tested, by a company called Elgen Inc., at the hospital where they were both born.The machine inadvertently gave them electrical powers.Then, shortly after they are both offered a scholarship to the Elgen Academy, run by the corporation that tested the MEI, Michael is sent to the hospital after an encounter with Dr. Hatch, the head of Elgen Inc., and two other electric children. Simultaneously, Taylor and Michael's mother are kidnapped by the Elgen Academy. When Taylor is taken to the academy, she meets her twin, Tara, and is given a life of incredible luxury in exchange for doing tasks to prove her loyalty to Dr. Hatch. However, when she refuses to reboot a man at the X-Games, potentially killing him, she is imprisoned with the other disobedient electric children. Meanwhile, Michael is released from the hospital and pays one of the bullies he shocked to drive him and Ostin to the Elgen Academy, where they infiltrate the building to try to rescue Taylor and Michael's mother. Sadly, their attempt fails, and Ostin is imprisoned with Taylor and the other disobedient electric children. Michael is taken to Dr. Hatch, who wants him to sign a contract promising his loyalty to Elgen in exchange for luxury and his mother and friends being set free. Michael signs the contract but refuses to kill one of the bullies who drove him to Elgen to prove his loyalty, so he is taken to Cell 25 and tortured. Meanwhile, Ostin, Taylor, and the imprisoned electric children engineer a breakout, but are stopped after they escape their cell. Later, Michael, Taylor, and Ostin are taken from their cells and brought together so that Michael can watch Zeus, one of the electric children, kill his friends, but they convince Zeus to join them. They overpower the guards, help the disobedient electric children and the imprisoned humans get out, and almost escape, but they are stopped by Dr. Hatch and Nichelle, an electric child who drains electricity. However, the electric children are able to stop Nichelle by giving her more electricity than she can handle, and Dr. Hatch subsequently flees the building. After they defeat Nichelle, they learn from a girl named Grace, an electric child who ran away from Dr. Hatch, that Elgen has centers like the academy all over the world and are trying to create new electric children (Michael's mother belongs to one of these centers). The book ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, with Michael, Taylor, Ostin, and the other electric children preparing to stop Dr. Hatch's plans.

One of the main themes that I saw in this book was the theme of making deals. An example of this is when Dr. Hatch asked Taylor to reboot Colby Cross and the man at the X-Games in exchange for continuing her lifestyle at the Elgen Academy. Another time this theme was shown was when Dr. Hatch asked Michael to sign a contract promising his loyalty to the Elgen Academy in exchange for a life of splendor and his mother and friends being set free. Thirdly, an example of this is when Michael gave Jack, the bully, three hundred dollars to drive him and Ostin to the Elgen Academy. I believe that this shows that one of the major themes in this book is the theme of making deals.

I would recommend this book to other seventh grade readers because it has an engaging plot. This book is full of excitement. Also, there are a wide variety of characters, involving average kids, popular cheerleaders, and a peculiar genius, so most or all kids will find something that they can relate to. Finally, although humor was not very prominent in this book, I enjoyed it wherever it did appear. These are all reasons why I would recommend this book to other seventh grade readers.

If you have read this book and enjoyed it, the next two books in the series are Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen and Michael Vey 3: Battle of the Ampere. There will be seven books in the series overall. Some other books like this are The Accidental Hero, by Matt Myklusch, Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon Mull, and The Journal of Curious Letters, by James Dashner. Personally, I have read many of these books and enjoyed them. I hope this helps you find something new to read!

I got the cover picture at  http://vonnacarter.com/wordpress/?p=5167

The Michael Vey website is at http://www.michaelvey.com/

Perfect Paragraph Practice

I think that Rick Riordan is the world's best author for many reasons. For one, his books have a little bit of everything: magic, adventure, history, and plenty of plot twists. Many of his works have made it onto the New York Times bestseller list. Also, his books are usually 300 to 600 pages long, so you will have a while before you begin to desperately yearn for the next installment. Finally, his books are entertaining for kids and adults alike. These are all reasons why Rick Riordan is the most awesome writer on the planet.