Retelling: Pandemonium

After running away from her home, Lena has to survive on her own in the Wild, where she meets a group of Invalids who take her in. While in New York, she meets a boy named Julian, and falls in love with him. But they are captured by the Resistance, and have to find a way to escape jail. Later, as Lena is showing Julian the Wild, Alex, who she thought was dead, shows up. And he is not happy.

Theme Analysis Essay

Author’s Note: I decided to analyze a poem for my theme analysis, instead of using a story or a novel, to try and do something out of the ordinary, and different. Like the character in the poem.

Robert Frost has written a lot of wonderful poems, but The Road not Taken is my favorite because of its hidden meaning and theme: Choices and decisions. The poem is about taking the safe path in life or taking the risky one. It talks about how lots of people take the safer road in life, and not many take the opportunities that life gives. Taking the easier path does not always mean taking the path that will make you more successful.

One of the major themes of the poem is making choices and decisions. This is demonstrated by the lines “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and “Took the other just as fair, perhaps having the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear.” This shows that not many people take a certain path in life, the risky one. This is because they don’t want to regret anything they did. In the poem, the line “I doubted if I should ever come back” represents not being able to turn back around in life once you choose to do something. Once you make your decision, there’s no going back. The diverging road indicates two different choices that you could make.
 
The poem The Road Not Taken reminds me a lot about the book Delirium by Lauren Oliver. In this book, Lena, the main character, debates for a while about whether or not she should try to escape the city she lives in. She finally decides to do it, a very risky plan which almost nobody has attempted. In this way, she is similar to the person in The Road Not Taken because she makes a choice that could get her in trouble sooner or later.
 
Another book The Road not Taken reminds me of is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In this book, Katniss’ sister is chosen at the reaping to be District 12’s female tribute for the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss desperately wants to protect her little sister, so she wants to volunteer for her. But she also knows that her sister would never let her do it. Finally, just as the boy tribute’s name is about to be picked, she runs up to the platform and volunteers, which has not happened in decades. She is similar to the character in The road Not Taken because she makes a choice that not many people make, while knowing that this choice could possibly harm her.
 
The choices and decisions that people make definitely affect their lives in one way or another. The character in The Road not Taken is similar to Lena and Katniss: They are all different, braver than most. The poem shows this with the theme of choice and decisions. About how taking the easier path is not necessarily the better path. It shows that the choices you make will affect your whole life.

A Winter Wonderland

Sitting inside with your friends and family

Roasting chestnuts over a fire

Sharing stories and memories

of long ago Christmases

While outside, in the night

Glimmering, twinkling lights

reflect off the ice covering the ground

Creating a beautiful scene

The tiny crystals falling outside

Shimmer in the moonlight 

Adding to the blanket of snow

covering fields and car roofs

In the light of the moon covered in clouds

you make out the silhouette of trees

covered in a layer of snow

Icicles hanging from their branches

Winter

I strolled down the cement sidewalk
breathing in the sharp winter air
my boots crunched in the snow
my face stung from the cold

 while the temperature was low
 my spirits were high
because winter
is the best season of all

Out in the Wild

Author's Note: This poem demonstrates the theme of survival, taking place in a wild forest. 

Hunting animals with amateur weapons

picking plants with your own hands

climbing trees to escape predators

laying low to ambush prey

Building shelter from sticks and mud

but never keeping out the rain

sometimes going days without food

making do with what you have

because that's all you get

The Best Christmas Ever. Not.

Author's Note: Just a little story to get us into the Christmas spirit. Well, kind of. The main character is bedridden for her Christmas present.

Christmas is supposed to be all about giving gifts and being merry and Santa Claus and yada yada yada. Normally I would agree, but this year I’ve been cursed. With the flu. So while nearly my entire family is down in the family room, having a great time, I’m stuck up here in bed watching those boring Christmas specials on the tv in my room.

What makes it worse is that I don’t even get to have any of the delicious food that I helped my mom cook. Apparently the flu is affecting my stomach too, so I can’t eat anything real heavy or it’ll come right back up. Basically I’ll be living on toast, crackers, and soda until I’m better. This sucks. So much.

My mom knocked on my door and came in with a tray of buttered toast and water.

“Kierra. You need to keep up your strength. Eat this,” My mom said. I sat up and took the tray.

“Mom, why can’t I at least go downstairs and watch the movie with you guys? I don’t care if I have to sit far away from everyone, I just want to be included and not feel like a loser,” I complained.

My mom looked at me for a second. “All right. Fine. Come on then.” She was being strangely calm about it. I stared at her suspiciously and moved my blankets out of the way so I could get up. I took about two steps before I got dizzy and my knees got weak.

“See? You can’t even go halfway across your room. You’re in no condition to be up and out of bed,” my mom muttered. I crawled back into bed while my mom arranged my blankets back around me. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I saw her smirk as she walked out of my room.

I took a bite of a piece of toast, looking at my clock. It read 7:42 pm. Wonderful, they’re going to be unwrapping gifts without me pretty soon. I got so angry for a moment that I threw one of my pillows across the room. It hit a picture frame and made it swing from side to side, but it didn’t fall.

Pretty soon I dozed off. When I woke up, there were a pile of presents at the end of my bed. Well, at least they were thoughtful enough to bring everything up here, I thought.

I pushed myself to a sitting position and opened the presents one by one. Most of them weren’t anything special, just clothes and money and other accessories. But the last present I opened was from my Grandma Ginny. Which confused me, because we had her funeral almost five years ago. I read the card taped to the front, bordered in lace that could only be Grandma Ginny’s handiwork.

“To my dear Kierra: For when you turn 15. Love, Grandma Ginny,”  I whispered. So she had put this together a long time ago. But I was still confused, because I hadn’t turned 15 yet. In fact, I wouldn’t for another 2 months. Right then, my Aunt Carol walked in.

“Carol, why did you give this to me now? My fifteenth birthday isn't till February,” I said.

"Because, Kierra, we decided this just couldn't wait any longer. Open it," Aunt Carol said. So I did, and when I saw what was inside I gasped. It was a beautiful light blue gown, one meant for those really fancy dances. Like prom.

"Wait...so this was Grandma Ginny's prom gown?" I asked.

"Well, back then they weren't called proms. But yes, it was hers. Now we're passing it down to you. Wear it to junior prom."

"Cool. Thanks. I will." I didn't mention that junior prom was 2 years away. Guess they had proms early back in the old days.

I sighed and looked out the window. Snow was falling, covering everything in a blanket of white. Then I looked back at the dress. This was the one thing that made this Christmas merry, like it's supposed to be. Thank you, Grandma Ginny, I thought.

Retelling Piece

Author's note: this retelling is about the book Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn.


A teenage girl travels to England with her family to visit their cousin, and once there one of her sisters climbs aboard the Titanic so she must find her and bring her back home. While on the ship, they both get married, but the ship strikes an iceberg. The main character meets Tesla, who screws up time with his time machine. Two years pass before everyone is finally reunited.