Brown+A.

Brown

Dear Louis, I have just witnessed a terrible tragedy. A local boy, Emitt Till, was found dead in a river. Emitt is African American like us. I am friends with the family, and was able to view the body. It is the most grotesque thing you could ever see. Emitt’s face is completely unrecognizable because it has been smashed to a million pieces, as if crushed by a pick ax. The nose is in about a hundred pieces and the eyes are sagging in random pieces, peeking out of the bulging flesh. It was so sad at the funeral. His mother was crying her heart out. This act of violence shows how dangerous it is to be a Negro at this time period. Apparently, Emitt whistled at a white lady, and her husband and his friend picked up Emitt in the dead of night. He was missing for about four days until a boy fishing found him in a river. The story is circulating the newspapers. It is so terrible how white people act towards us. I don’t understand what we have done wrong, but for some reason we are hated by so many. This act is completely unjustifiable. Sure, Emitt probably should have been punished, but beaten to a bloody swollen pulp is just uneccessary. This has caused me to be very cautious about how I act and what I say around white people. I would suggest you do too. The body of Emitt Till will haunt me forever as a reminder of the cruelty of the whites. Remember to be cautious, or maybe you will end up like Emitt. Sincerely, Alston Brown

Good use of descriptive words and imagery. -Megan Pinkerton

Good use of details. and i think your suggestions at the end of your letter to your friend made it seem more realistic. Good Job! --Megan Leutner

Nice job Alston! Good description of the situation! -Marcy

I liked the way u described his face, good job.-nikitass

Teacher: So Alston, where’s your homework? Alston: Well Mrs. Brooks I have a pretty good answer to that question. Well, I was walking home after school like usual. As I walked past a dank and dark alley, I saw a sweet lady being mugged. Being the brave and courageous man that I am, I went in to save her. I charged the man who was robbing her, but as I got close to her, she turned on me and grabbed me. She wasn’t a little old lady, it was a moleman! Gasp! So the moleman grabbed me and took me to a ship he had parked close by. I resisted the attack, but he was too strong. At least I think it was a he. Lot’s of hair you know? Anyways, he threw me in the ship and tied me up and gagged me. The ship had a drill on the front and it drilled straight into the ground. We traveled for almost an hour. The ship smelled like dirt and larva. Finally we stopped. The moleman dragged me out. I looked to see a huge cavern that had a city inside. It was the secret layer of the molemen. It was a great discovery and I plan on aiding diggers find it soon. However, the only thing on my mind was escape. Unfortunately, I was bound tight. They threw me in a dark cell and shoved a sandwhich in my face. I hate tuna. Anyways, I was left for about 3 hours. I tried to wriggle free but it was no use. Soon, some molemen came to retrieve me. They carried me to a coliseum. It was jam packed with people, or molemen I should say. They brought me to the center of the arena. There I saw a pot of boiling water. Oh boy, soup. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The pot was for me! Luckily, with my keen eyes, I saw one of the molemen had a knife sticking out. Using my swift skills I cut the ties binding me loose. Since this story is going to long, I got out. Yay! Fun times. And I didn’t do my homework cause my dog ate it. The End.

Are humans inherently good or evil?

Humans are not born good or evil, unless you’re Jesus of course. When you are born, you don’t have any cares besides you’re ticked off that it’s cold all of a sudden. However, when we see people doing things, we take after those examples. When people do bad things, it is much more noticeable then good things, so lots of people learn the wrong things first instead of the right things. If we focused on what we SHOULD do instead of what we shouldn’t do, then people would focus on the good things. Also, bad things tend to cause bigger differences in people’s lives than good things. Therefore it's a bigger deal about the bad things. Also, bad things attack your emotions more. You can feel angry, sad, disappointed, or anything else in between. When something good happens you can only really feel happy or proud. So bad things generally have a greater effect which is why we focus on them more and why we might be considered inherently bad even though we are not.

Beatrice says, “You are very different from Rebecca.” Who was Rebecca? What was her daily life like?

I was very scared when I heard from Beatrice that I wasn’t like Rebecca. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is Maxim going to realize that he will grow tired of me and realize that he really still wanted Rebecca? Of course I don’t know much of her. All I know of her is that elegant sloping handwriting. I imagine Rebecca as a very royal lady that had great confidence, something I obviously don’t have. She knew exactly what to do and what to say to people. If I only had that ability! Also her apparent beauty that everybody talked about. I hadn’t the slightest idea of clothes and hairs and fashions. Beatrice complained about my hair and how she thought Maxim wouldn’t like it. Is she wrong, or is Maxim secretly keeping something from me. It is so confusing to understand people. I don’t know how to achieve everyone’s approval like Rebecca. Also, the morning room doesn’t approve me at all. Rebecca would have friends to write to and things to change. I had nobody to write and nothing to change. Rebecca also had plenty of people to invite over and parties to throw. Why can’t I have people to invite? It is what everyone expects of me. I have no way of measuring up to Rebecca. She knew exactly what to do and knew exactly how to orchestrate everything. I am not a leader; I am terrible at making decisions. I don’t have the elegance and beauty of Rebecca. What should I do?!?