17 Şubat 2013 Pazar

5th Day of Rumspringa

Aslı Özoğuz
IB1
17.02.2013
Word Count: 562

                                          The Rumspringa Experience


           Dear Diary,
So this is my 5th day of Rumspringa. To tell you the truth it’s been really hard and I miss my parents and my house a lot. I have the best parents in the world. Even though they are extremely strict and conservative Amish parents, they still let me experience rumspringa. Most of my friends here say they had to run away from home because their parents didn’t let them. I guess I’m pretty lucky.

Right now I’m staying in a house with 5 other girls. It’s not big and luxurious but I can say it’s much better than my old house. In this house we have a television. It’s awesome. In my old house we weren’t allowed to watch television. We didn’t even have phones! After I got to the house my friends took me to a mall. There were countless shops inside. I was really amazed. I got myself jeans, skirts and tank tops. They weren’t quite cheap but my lovely parents gave me enough money for this experience. So now I am wearing jeans and t-shirts which I wasn’t allowed to wear before. It’s refreshing. I was sick of the conservative Amish life style.

After the shopping was done my friends took me to a party. I had my first beer there. We also played a game called beer pong which I have never heard before. Back home we aren’t supposed to drink alcohol at all so these were all new to me. But I had loads of fun. Maybe if my parents knew how fun this was they wouldn’t be so conservative and strict. They never had a chance to experience Rumspringa. Their parents didn’t let them. That’s why they wanted me to try it. Anyway, after the party we all got pretty drunk so we had to return home.

Also one day my friends took me to Burger King which is a very famous fast food restaurant. I ate a hamburger called Big King. It tasted like heaven. At my home I was only allowed to eat what we grew ourselves. I was really amazed by everything. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I drove for the first time! I didn’t get a license yet but I have friends who have cars and a license. So they thought me. I’m still learning but it’s very hard. Back home the only thing I drove was a horse. I hope I’ll be able to get my license soon so I can drive whenever I want.

I have done a lot in these 5 days. I really like this lifestyle a lot. It’s not strict so I feel free. I never got a chance to feel free in my entire life. All my life I had to follow certain rules. And these rules seem stupid to me. What’s so wrong about watching television and driving cars? I just don’t get it. However if I leave the Amish community, I’ll never see my parents again. I can’t stand that. Even now I miss them a lot. I hope I make the right decision in the end. Anyway I have to sleep now. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I’m going to try to get a job and at nigh we are going to a bar for the first time. I hope it goes well. Goodnight for now!

Rationale


Aslı Özoğuz
IB1
Word Count: 100
17.02.2013
RATIONALE
 There are only a couple of things which I changed about my review on the movie called Speak. I made a couple of writing mistakes. I wrote certain words wrongly. For example I wrote “dram” instead of “drama”. I also had the write the title in capitals. Other than that I didn’t put a title on my conclusion so I added a conclusion title as well. I think I could have been more humorous but I couldn’t think of any jokes other than the joke I made about Kristen Stewart and how she should play the part of Pollyanna.


12 Şubat 2013 Salı

Speak movie review


Aslı Özoğuz
12.02.2013
IB1
Word Count: 448
                                                                    SPEAK UP
Are you a teenager who is just silent? Who keeps EVERYTHING inside? Then you should absolutely watch this movie!
 Recently I watched the movie “Speak”. It’s based on the award winning novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. The movie is about a teenager- just like any other teenage movie it’s completely stereotypical. The main character, Melinda, is a lonely and depressed 13 year old girl.  However as you watch the movie you’ll understand that Melinda has a different problem than any other teenage girl.
Genre
This movies genre is drama. Personally I prefer adventurous action movies over depressive teenage movies. This movie doesn’t have any sort of action in it, except the part where Melinda gets attacked by a guy (I’m not going to tell who so I don’t spoil it for you!) but it only lasts for 30 seconds. It’s a very simple and plain movie. Even though it’s a slow movie, it sure makes you think.
Plot
This movie is basically shows what most teenagers go through in their first year of high school. Melinda is an outcast. She is isolated and lonely, like most teenagers. However Speak is not the typical teenage movie. There is a reason why Melinda is treated that way and you will be shocked when you learn it.
Setting
Speak is set in an extremely stereotypical American high school where they celebrate ALL of the holidays (like thanksgiving, Christmas, valentine’s day…). Also just like any other high school movie the kids are divided into groups (like kids who do sports, cheerleaders, popular kids, nerds, people who want to be popular…). I am really sick of watching these types of movies because I know what to expect. There is always an outcast who wants to be a part of a friend group and so on. Speak is exactly like that.
Actors
The main character Melinda is played by Kristen Stewart. I really hope that just for once she plays the part of a positive and happy human being like Pollyana or something. I don’t think she would be able to pull it off though. She really has only one facial expression. However this expressionless character suits Melinda perfectly. So actually she did a good job in capturing the character of Melinda Sordino.

Conclusion
Even though all the minor mistakes, this movie conveys an important message which is to SPEAK. Talk about your problems, don’t hide it inside. I bet lots of teenagers would relate to this movie. As we all know teenagers don’t generally tell their issues to their friends or families. They just keep things bottled up inside. Generally I think it’s an inspiring movie.

 Written by: Aslı Özoğuz
Rating: 3.5/5