between shades of gray essay

Ava Mascuch                                                                                                                                 711

“between shades of gray” essay                                                                                             4/13/15

    Most people talk about the 1930s and 1940s as a time when Hitler imprisoned thousands of Jewish people. What they usually do not talk about as much is Stalin and the Soviets who killed an estimated 7,000,000 people. The book “between shades of gray” tells the story of of a girl named Lina who is sent to prison camps with her Mother and brother Jonas. The story also talks about how Lina managed to get through the camps and the reason she survived was because of her Mom. Lina’s Mother helped her and Jonas survive  the camps by always encouraging them and to telling them not to give up.  She always put her children and others before herself.

    The Mother was a hero in this story because she encouraged Lina and Jonas not to give up no matter how hard times got. She always looked on the better side of things. For example in ”between shades of gray” Jonas says, “Looking at the sky, it’s like I’m lying on the grass at home in Lithuania. That sounded like something Mother would say,throwing color into a black-and-white picture.” pg 90. This quote shows their Mother looks on the better side of things and tries to see the silver lining in each situation. Another example from the book that shows the Mother’s optimism is “The shack was approximately ten feet by twelve feet...this is filthy. But nothing a little cleaning can’t fix, right?” pg 109. This quote is shows that even though they were in a filthy shack that could barely fit all of the people in their group the Mother still did not let the situation get the better of her. This helped teach Lina and Jonas not to give up because of a bad scenario.

Another way in which the Mom helped Jonas and Lina through the camps was that she always put them and others before herself. For instance, when “Jonas found the package from Mothers cousin’s Regina. Inside was a small blanket, a sausage, and a coffee cake. Mother shared the food giving small pieces to everyone.” pg 50. This quote shows that even when the Mother could have just eaten the food with Lina and Jonas, she decided to think of the others on the train and share. A second example is, “We’ve seen her nibble, but she’s always giving us bread...Mother was starving herself to feed us.” pg 285. This example supplies that the Mother is thinking of her children and making sure they have enough to eat, instead of being greedy like most people at the camp. She is selfless.

    Overall, the Mother is one of the heros in “between shades of gray” because she was selfless and always looked for the silver lining in difficult situations. If she had not acted the way she did Lina and Jonas would have probably ended up dead. This shows that small and hopeful actions can influence peoples lives and help them survive through tough times. 

Upfront magazine argument essay

Ava Mascuch                                                                                                                                 711

Upfront Magazine Argument Essay                                                                                        4/12/15

Is it fair that so much is riding on a single test for millions of Chinese students?

At the time of the gaokao test in China there are a lot of stressed out teenagers.  That is because the test is the only thing that matters in the process to get into a Chinese university.  Therefore, if a student does not do well and get a good score he or she will not get in and will most likely end up joining China’s 260 million migrant workers.  Is it fair that so much is riding on this one test?  For teens in China a few points one way or the other could determine the promise of a life of migration work.  Everyone should have a chance to go to college.  It is unfair that this whole process depends on the gaokao test because teens are forced to devote so much of their time to studying for this test and too much is sacrificed for the students to practice for the test.  

Even though students spend huge amounts of time much time on this one test, many of them miss the cut off score by just a few points.  For example the article, “China’s Cram Schools”, about the gaokao test states “20,000 students train around the clock for China’s national college-entrance examination.”  This quote shows that many Chinese students stay up late and wake up early in the morning to study and then go to school and study some more for the test.  The same article also describes the life of one of these students, “Xu filled every spare moment with studying, testing himself between classes, on the toilet, in the cafeteria.  After the lights went out at 11:30, he sometimes used a battery-powered lamp to keep going.”     There are probably many students like Xu who devote enormous amounts of time to prepare for the test.  It is not fair to let all of that hard work go to waste because of one test score.

Chinese students’ lives should not ride solely on this test because there are already many sacrifices made by students and their families just for them to study for the test at a good school.  For instance, the article “China’s Cram Schools” states “the rent on their tiny room was high...and it represented only part of the sacrifice Yang’s parents made to help him become the first in his family to attend college.”  This quote shows that his parents are living in a small apartment so that they can send their son to school to study for the gaokao.  A second example from the article describes how one family struggles and sacrifices.  “My mother constantly reminds me that I have to study hard because my father is out working construction far from home to pay my school fees...said Cao.”  It is not only the students who work hard to do well, but parents do too and they make sacrifices to pay for the schools.  Why must all of this hard work and sacrifice be judged by and wasted by what can be one bad test grade?

Although it is not good that one test determines Chinese students’ future, there can be good aspects of this test because if they manage to do well on it.  Students who do well on the test are promised a better life.  For example, the article states, “A few weeks after he took the gaokao last June, he learned his score and was ecstatic...it would win him a spot at one of Anhuis best second tier universities.”  This is good for one student, but not all of them are promised a college education.  “Not all the news was happy.  Tang’s childhood friend tanked on the exam...he would end up on a construction site, just like his father.”  Cao and many other Chinese students like him who did not do well ended up working as migrant workers.  Everyone should be offered a chance to apply to a college and not just the people who do well on the test.          

Overall, the parents of the students sacrifice so much and the teens devote so much time to practicing for the test and it seems unfair for it to determine their futures.  The gaokao causes too much pressure and stress for the Chinese students and their families.  Their whole life should not be judged by one test score.

Poem Essay

Ava Mascuch     711

Poem Essay                                                                             03/11/15

Everyone has a different way of showing their love for someone. “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “My Papa’s Waltz”  by Theodore Roethke are both poems about father/son relationships and how they show their love for one another. In “Those Winter Sundays”  the father shows his love by putting his son before himself. The son doesn’t fully understand that the father is doing these things out of love. Their relationship isn’t all good.  In “My Papa’s Waltz” the father shows his love by playing with his son and the son appreciates it. They have a good relationship.

In the poem “Those Winter Sundays”  the father shows his love for his son by doing things for him, but he son doesn’t always appreciate the things his father does for him. He does not realize these things are an act of love. Their relationship is not great. An example of this is, “Sundays too my father got up early/ and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold...no one ever thanked him.” This shows that even on Sundays, a day generally set aside for rest, the father got up and did things for his son but the son never appreciated the things he did for him. This doesn’t show a good relationship because the speaker should understand his father is doing these things out of love. None of the things the son is taking for granted would happen without the father. Another example is, “Speaking indifferently to him, / who had driven out the cold.” This states that even after the father makes the room warm for his child he still doesn’t treat the father with respect and thank him. This also doesn’t show a good understanding between father and son.

In “My Papa’s Waltz” the father shows his love for his child by playing with him. The father and son have a good relationship. An example of this is, “We romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf.” This shows that the father would rough house with his son to show his love. This shows his love because he’s is spending time with his son. They have a good relationship because the son knew his father loved him because the father played with him. Another example is, “You beat time on my head/ with a palm caked hard with dirt/ then waltzed me off to bed/ still clinging to your shirt.” This also states the father and son had a good relationship because even after a hard day at work the father would still play with his son and put him to bed, before caring about his own needs.

In each poem the father shows his love and how much he cares for his child but in different ways. It also shows the father and son relationship and if it was a positive or negative.  We should always try to thank our parents or family for doing things for us and not take these things for granted so we can show our appreciation for them.

Night essay

Ava Mascuch March 6, 2015 

711 

Night Essay

The Holocaust was a terrible time for many people and ended in about eleven million deaths, six million of which were Jews. The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a non-fiction book about himself. He was sent to a concentration camp with his family but is separated from his sister and mother. He tries to survive the camp with his Dad. While reading his book, I discovered that the Holocaust represents the “shadow” archetype in the hero’s journey. A “shadow” is a negative figure, representing evil or things we don’t like.  But the shadow does not think it is doing anything wrong.  The “shadow” is like the Holocaust because the Holocaust represents evil.

The Holocaust represents the shadow because it was an evil thing. For example, “...he slapped my father with such force that he fell down and then crawled back to his place on all fours,” pg. 39. This shows that the Holocaust was evil because the people running the camps did horrible things to the Jews because Hitler wanted to eradicate their race. This was not all the Germans did to the the Jews. They whipped them, starved them and forced them to work under harsh conditions. Another example is,  When they were being evacuated from the concentration camp, “Near me, men were collapsing into the dirty snow. Gunshots.” Pg. 86. The people involved in the Holocaust were so evil that they would kill the prisoners that didn’t run fast enough. Lastly, when Elie is in the concentration camp Buna it states, “We knew what it meant. An SS would examine us. Whenever he found something extremely frail--a “Muselman” was what we called those inmates--he would write down his number: good for the crematorium.” Pg. 70. This states that the Holocaust as evil because they would kill innocent people just because they weren’t strong enough and didn’t pass the test.

The Holocaust time period is like the “shadow” because the people running the concentration camps don’t think they are doing anything wrong. For instance, while they were being transported the guards ran into German girls, “The guards began to tease them...they were all laughing, joking and passing love notes to one another.” Pg. 46. This shows that the guards don’t understand what they are doing to the Jews is wrong because they are acting like it’s a normal day, laughing and talking to the girls. They were not affected by what they were doing. Lastly, on the website www.theholocaustexplained.org it talks about Hiltler’s point of view, “He thought Germans should have enough ‘living space’ and that only people of Ayran blood should live in Germany... he also wanted to rid Germany of the mentally and physically disabled, because they were seen as imperfect and also a drain on the resources of the ‘master race’.” This shows that Hitler wanted wanted this perfect ‘master race’ and he didn’t see Jewish or disabled people in that society. He thought he was helping Germany because he was giving the Germans more ‘living space’ by getting rid of the Jews. This did not help the Germans because many of the Germans died during World War II.

The Holocaust was a very dark part of history, it changed and ended many peoples lives. It 

represents evil because of the horrible things that were done to the Jewish people.  Night shows 

how hard the Holocaust was and that there is not always a happy ending. It is hard to believe that 

evil of this magnitude could take place in the world. We have to recognize and remember these 

parts of history so they are never repeated.

Ava Mascuch 711

Argument Essay 1/30/15

Statistics state that when teenagers play contact sports they have more academic success. When teens play sports it helps them with not just being better in school but with their stamina, strength, teamwork, good sportsmanship and so much more. Why would you want to keep your child from developing or improving these skills? Therefore, kids and teenagers should play contact sports because it’s good for their health but they should take precaution while playing them.

Teenagers should participate in contact sports as long as they train to prevent injuries. According to the Wall Street Journal website, “To prevent sports injuries people want the coaches and parents to meet at the beginning of the season and talk about what type of training is going on for their child.” This shows that this strategy will prevent injuries during the game and in practice. It also shows that if parents meet with their child's coach then they will be able to see and discuss the training, that will be happening during the season, and if it needs to be improved. Another example is the American Academy of Pediatrics website which states, “The A.A.P (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends plyometric and strengthening exercises to reduce athletes risk of being injured and encourages coaches and school sports programs to learn about the benefits of this kind of training.” This quote shows that parents and coaches should really make an effort to improve training in sports because the result will include less injuries and more precautions being taken.

Teen should play more that one contact sport because playing two sports can prevent injury because your body is repeating one motion over and over while just playing one sport. For instance, Teens Stress 101 states, “sports that have a lot of repetitive motion can damage your body. Practicing all different sports can help you later in life.” This demonstrates that the more you play contact sports the healthier you will be.  It also shows that playing more sports helps you and doesn’t damage your body.  A second good example is from the USA Football webpage, it states that “According to medical experts taking part in a variety of activities - whether structured or not - leads to greater skill and muscle development.” This is evidence that there are many benefits in playing more than one contact sport.

Although contact sports are good for teens to play some parents say it is not worth the risk. The home page for Huffington Post states that “Some parents aren’t letting their kids play contact sports because they don’t want their kids to get hurt during a game.” This is a logical reason to take your kids out of sports but when you take your kid out of sports they miss a lot of opportunities. The article Kids Health states that “Sports are a great way for kids to have fun, stay fit, improve skills and make friends.”  This shows that teens who don’t participate in sports are missing those vital things that can round out a child’s life.

Overall teens should participate in sports because it will help them maintain good health and they will develop personal skills that will help them over their entire life. It is possible to take precautions to make contact sports more safe and parents should speak with coaches and their sports community about how that can be done.  The benefit of playing team sports outways the risk of injury.

Bibliography

"How Children and Teens Avoid Sports Injuries." Wall Street Journal. Ed. Paul Beckett. Dow Jones and Company, n.d. Web.

American Academy Of Pediatrics. "American Academy of Pediatrics Recommends Training Programs to Reduce Risk of ACL Tears in Young Athletes." American Academy of Pediatrics. N.p., n.d. Web

Teen Stress 101 Teens Training to Hard for Sports. Perf. Connor Welch. Www.abc.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

Frollo, Joe. "Playing Multiple Sports Builds Better Athletes." Youth Football. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.

"KidsHealth : Kids Home Page." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. The Nemours Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.

"Highschool Football Player Dies from Field Injury." Huffington Post. Ed. Arianna Huffington. N.p., n.d. Web.

Building Bridges Essay Final

Building Bridges Essay                            12/10/14
Ava Mascuch                                                                                                 711


It is hard for most parents or guardians to let go of their child and let them follow their dreams. In the short story,”Building Bridges” by Andrea Pinkney shows us the relationship between Bebe, a young girl and her grandmother, Mama Lil who is having a hard time letting Bebe grow up and follow her dreams. Through the relationship between Bebe and Mama Lil the author helps the reader understand that letting your daughter or son go and follow their dreams can be hard for the parent or guardian.

When the author introduces Mama Lil to the story she starts out very stubborn about allowing Bebe to follow her dreams.  Mama Lil is talking to Bebe, after Sunday breakfast of a fried batch of Dunbar’s ham and says, “Bebe get that backwards idea out of your head.  That grit-work ain’t no place for you and besides, I ain’t never heard of no girls doing stuff like that.  You need to be getting your self a real summer job, like something civilized.” page 17.  This quote demonstrates that Mama Lil is totally against the idea of Bebe working at the bridge and it seems like she is not going to budge on her thinking.  I have a feeling that Mam Lil always thinks she is right. Bebe thought long and hard about what faced her, “The biggest obstacle of all, the thing that made Mam Lil the most stubborn of all was my dream of becoming an engineer.  Mama Lil did not fully understand what an engineer was.”  page 20-21.  This quote shows that Mama Lil does not like not knowing things and I think that is partly why she does not want Bebe to work on the bridge project.  Since she does not know a lot about engineering and has never met anyone who is an engineer she immediately thinks engineering is not suitable for Bebe and she should not take the job.  This also shows the reader that Mama Lil does not like going out or her comfort zone and may be afraid to consider new things.
  
Even though Mama does not support Bebe and her dream of becoming an engineer, Bebe is still going to persevere. After walking furiously for blocks Bebe stops and thinks, “I’d come to this corner and studied the bridge a million times” page 24. This shows the reader that even though Mama Lil and Bebe argued about the bridge project, she wasn't going to give up because Bebe still wanted her dream to come true. Bebe sketches the bridge and thinks, “The thrill that worked me over every time I sketched that bridge” page 25. This quote displays that Bebe loves drawing the bridge and she has drawn it many times before. It shows that Bebe will always want to work on the bridge and become an engineer, even if Mama Lil despises the idea of it.

Later in the story, Mama Lil wants Bebe to follow her dreams, but is afraid that those dreams will cause Bebe to leave. Mama Lil admits what she and Bebe knew the whole time, while sitting at the table and smoking a cigarette, “Your dreams are the kind that will take you away from here, Bebe - away from your Mama Lil.”  page 29.   This quote suggests that although Mama Lil wants Bebe to follow her dreams she is afraid that Bebe, who is the only family she has,  might leave her forever.  Bebe thinks about why Mama Lil won't let her work on the bridge project, “I think that deep down Mama Lil was afraid something bad would happen to me, the same way it happened to my Mama and Daddy.”  page 20.  This quote makes me think that Mama Lil is scared of losing Bebe and she does not know what she would do without her.  I also think that this fear of losing Bebe is preventing her from letting Bebe work on the bridge.  In the end, Mama Lil finally supports Bebe and her dreams.  In the morning of the bridge project, after breakfast,  Mama Lil finally says,  “Will you help me read the permission slip Bebe?”  page 34.  This quote shows the reader that Mama Lil finally supports Bebe’s ambition and is going to let her work on the bridge.  It also shows that Mama Lil finally understands what Bebe wants to do and I think it will help them to have a better relationship.  When Bebe is leaving for the bridge project in the morning Mama Lil says, as Bebe is about to walk out the door, “Bebe, that bridge is lucky to have you.”  page 34.  Mama Lil’s saying this shows that she is proud of Bebe, thinks she is very special, and she finally supports her dreams.

Throughout “Building Bridges”  Mama Lil changes from being stubborn and unwilling to listen to what Bebe has to say to supporting Bebe and her dreams.  I think this short story can teach the reader to never give up no matter how hard it gets and to always follow your dreams.  This story also shows that all families go through issues of letting go and growing up, and that it can be difficult. I think that since Mama Lil and Bebe went through this obstacle together it will help their relationship grow and become stronger.         

my name piece

Ava Mascuch
My Name Piece
October 8, 2014


          My name is Ava Celine Mascuch. I think my first name is like the color light green because it is a very simple color.  I think my name is a simple color because it is only three letters. Also light green goes with other colors and I think my name goes well with my last name. Light green can also stand out on a page. This shows that even though my name can blend in with other names it can also stand out. My name is prime because it is only spelled with three letters which make’s my name different and not like other people’s names. It makes my name original. I like that my name is a palindrome because not many names sound the same when you spell it backwards which makes me feel like I am unique.

          My middle name is the same name as my great Aunt Celine’s and I think it suits me really well.  I think my Mom and Dad chose to use my Aunt’s name because they are very close with her, she is an important person in my family and my parents wanted a part of her with me. She was named Celine because when my Great Grandmother was in the hospital after my Great Aunt’s birth she was taken care of by a religious nun, Sister Celine. My Great Grandmother was dying of Tuberculous and wanted her daughter to be baptized. She told Sister Celine to name her baby “Celine”. I’m proud to carry the name Celine and take it forward in my family.
      
    Ava is not the type of name to have a nick-name even though my friend’s always try to give me nick-name’s such as Av, A.V.A, or A but it doesn’t work because my name is too short. I wish I had a nick-name but I would not change my name just to have one.        
   
    My parents were considering other names. In fact I was not named for 24 hours. Some names they thought of were Lucy, Jane, Amelia and Anne. Overall they thought that  Ava sounded the best with my last name and Ava suited me best. I wouldn’t choose any other name because I have been Ava all my life and it is a part of who I am.