Tornado

Author's Note: This piece is about the time I was stuck at school for a tornado and all the events that took place during it. Also explains the dumb realities we live in.

            It was early May and the sky was covered with clouds of purple to black. You could hear the heavy rain and wind blow against the side of the school. In the late afternoon, before school lets out, Mrs.Carter's voice came over the loud speakers.She announced that there has been a tornado touch down close to the school and that we were to report to the designated safety spots all around the school. The student body had already fled to get their things to leave, but of course we couldn't leave now. Teachers calmly directed us to the right area, hiding their own fear of getting swallowed by the tornado. Since I was little a tornado never touched down around here so I thought that this was a little over dramatic for everyone to be panicking. As I got to my safety spot near the office I sat down against the wall and tuned in to the conversations around me. Across the hall were a group of sixth grade girls worrying about their little puppies being all alone at home. The thought of that made their mascara bleed down their faces. I stared at them in astonishment. Really? You are really worrying about that? I bet their hasn't even been a time when you have seen a tornado here in Pewaukee and you're crying about it. About fifteen minutes of sitting in a pool of black tears, Mrs. Carter announced that we were aloud to leave because there was a tornado that touched down miles from here and was there for barely enough time to put anyone in danger. The ridiculous moral to this story is do not panic when you are in mythical danger.   

Lotteries and Women's Rights

             Author's Note: This piece acknowledges conceptions of women's rights early in the nineteenth century secretly placed in world renown short stories by famous authors. It explains what it was like to be a woman then and what it was like and what it should have been like.        
             If you were to speak, wouldn’t you want somebody to listen to you? Or even do something for yourself, on your own? Everybody wants to be able to say what they want to say without criticism or being laughed at. Maybe, even have someone to at least listen to what you have to say. Women have always had a hard time speaking their mind or doing things for themselves because of the way they we taught and later treated like so. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, expresses the difficulty of doing what every woman should be able to do: live her life.

            Once a year, a lottery takes place in a small little town and some other surrounding towns. When the lottery comes around you would think that everyone would be excited and cheerful to win money. However, this is not like any other lottery you have ever heard of before. People gather in the town anxious and nervous waiting for the rest of the people to pick their paper. Instead of just anyone from the family to go and pick their slip, it has to be the man of the family. One example is when Mr. Dunbar is unable to attend since is leg is broken, and so Mrs. Dunbar is to pick the slip for their family. Mr. Summers, the leader of the town, along with a couple of other men argue whether or not she should do it. They would volunteer her son, but since he is not of age, he cannot. What is wrong with a woman picking? Nothing bad is going to happen when she picks the paper; it isn’t going to burn down the town, so get over it.

            Though Mrs. Dunbar ends up picking it for her family, the way Mrs. Hutchinson is treated far exceeds that. One of the most striking is when the Hutchinson family picks from the box and they win, Mrs. Hutchinson cries out that it is not fair that they got picked, but no one will listen to her, telling her to shut up. No matter if you are a woman or a man, you should never tell someone to shut up. What if it is important or life saving, as it is in this story? Similar to that situation, Mrs. Hutchinson is picked from her family. As I said earlier, this is not your typical lottery, she is to go into the center of town and get stoned to death. She screams for someone to help her, someone to stand up and say this is not right. Stoning someone to death? That goes against all the civilized rights we have as a human being. This shades the fact that they are not doing this to just anyone, they are doing this to a woman.

            Not being heard is one thing, but when you are being almost brainwashed to say and believe something that isn’t true is even more appalling. “Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, eerily plays on the mind of a woman with no standard mind of her own. It relates to “The Lottery” because of the verbal abuse that can manipulate a woman though they may think it to be normal. Since her husband is a man and a doctor, he creates an illusion in her mind that she supposedly has a case similar to depression. He tells her she needs to be locked away in the barred-in attic, and to be taking medicine that makes her see people made of the wallpaper in her room. Doesn’t that just seem the least bit suspicious? She thinks it is normal to be locked away from her baby which is what housewives are thought to do. He is molding her into someone that is not that he can train to be loyal; almost like a dog.  Dogs are easy to manipulate, but women are not dogs and should not be treated like one.

While manipulating is an illusion that is hidden, abuse can be following right behind it. One instance is when Mr. Hutchinson grabs the paper out of his wife's hands. He didn’t ask for it. He didn’t lightly take it from her hands. Mr. Hutchinson snatched it from her like it was a weapon she was going to use to kill him. A woman should be able do to things for herself and be treated as if she was one of the guys. So, if you want us to care for your children and clean the house, then give us some sort of gracious respect. If we wanted you to take it, we would have offered. I bet Mr. Hutchinson thought it was the right thing to treat a woman that way, but that is naive if he thought that way. Women deserve respect and I wish other women in this story would speak up and realize that the whole situation is horrific.

Whereas Mrs. Hutchinson is only mistreated ever so slightly, Minny, a character in “The Help” is physically beaten weekly by her drunken husband. “The Help” is based on the lives of black maids in the 1960’s. It doesn’t mean only the way white people acted towards them, but also what their home lives were like too. Minny works as a maid full time during the day, cleaning up houses for women that can do it themselves. Then she goes home to five children and cleans her own house. That isn’t even the worst of it, her husband, after work comes home drunk and mad, and Minny ends up with bruises and blood all over her from him hitting her. She can’t do anything to leave him because of the kids and she can’t support all five on her own. The abuse towards Mrs. Hutchinson may be minor compared to the way Minny is abused by her husband, but it still does not make it okay.

In order for there not to be any women’s rights in the “The Lottery”, or for any of the other stories, there must have been some sort of point in the author’s life for her to put this in her story. Throughout Shirley Jackson’s life, she suffered from off and on depression and couldn’t focus enough to stay in college the full time (Shirley Jackson Biography ). Many of her stories included this sort of tragic mood between psychological and family issues. Since Jackson lived in a time where women did not have rights, my theory is that she turned it into something dark to meet her level of depression.  

Women have rights that should have been in place centuries ago keeping men from treating them with disregard. Mrs. Hutchinson, Minny, and the other lady all have had their lives taken from them in one way or another. None of them ever deserved to be treated the way they did and neither should you ever be. Women’s rights were put in place to help women be who they wanted to be without any significant direction, so let’s keep it that way. "I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of a man, but must be taught to protect herself and there I take my stand." –By Susan B. Anthony

Lottery Rights

          Author's Note: This piece is on the theme that I think works best for the short story "The Lottery".

          "The Lottery" is based of the the life of Shirley Jackson, the  author of this short story. It can be viewed in many different ways including the way women were treated more like pets than actual people in the 1940's . Many events in "The Lottery" show how disrespectfully women were treated in that time. One of the most important is when Mr. Hutchinson grabs the paper out of his wife's hand to show the town leader. Since when can a woman not hold up a piece of paper? This helps us understand the the women do not have a choice, even when they need to hold up a piece of paper. Another is when the Hutchinson family is picked to choose again, Mrs. Hutchinson says that it is not fair that her family is picked and many of the town's men tell her to shut up. To be able to speak up for what you believe in is important for anyone, not just men. So, when she is chosen to be the winner of the this doubtingly memorable lottery, she again tries to speak up but no one will listen to her, even though she will be dead within minutes. It's your life and you should be able to speak you mind and do the things you're capable to do whether you're a man or woman. 

Life with Cancer

            Cancer affects everyone in one way or another, even if you have it or if you know someone that has it. You might not think of cancer having to do with cells, but all of life has to do with cells. When you know someone that has it you know roughly what happens. The one thing they don’t think of is cells and how they attack to body to the point of death unless stopped by treatment or is caught before it spreads further. Life when you have cancer, life itself will never be the same and cells are the only factor to blame once someone is diagnosed with cancer.

            When you have any type of cancer, it starts by irregular cells that reproduce extremely fast and attack the regular cells in the body (What is cancer?). The reproduction of cells depends on the amount of cells a body will need. So, when cells are damaged and then reproduced, it is making mutations that will keep on reproducing until the body is filled with the bad cells (Defining Cancer). The reproduction of cells is by the process of Mitosis, which is when one cell produces two cells and those two cells create another two cells until the body is completely full of cells (V. Cancer cells escape from the controls on cell division).

            While the cells are multiplying very quickly, it can only pass through certain parts of body. The blood and lymph systems are the ways in which cancer cells can spread through the body. The lymph system, or the lymphatic system, is the system of production of white blood cells that attack diseases (Lymph System). When you have cancer there are usually a low amount of white blood cells, which means the body has a hard time of fighting of the cancer cells once they have spread that far. Many other sicknesses like a cold or an influenza are easier to catch since your immune system is down; people that you see wearing masks, are trying not to inhale the influenza germs in the air. The area where the lymph system is more prominent is the neck, chest, abdomen, and armpit. A gathering of additional cells may form together around a mass of tissue and create a tumor (Defining Cancer). 

            Though the lymph system is one way cancer can travel by, there are also theories based around lymph system and other guesses to the causes of cancer. There are many theories throughout history but the closest theory to match what cancer is today is the Blastema Theory which was created in 1838 by Johannes Muller, a German Pathologist who thought that cancer was created by normal cells that come across normal and Blastema tissue, becoming abnormal  (Cancer Causes: Throughout History). Most theories take were created in the 1800’s as the Trauma Theory was, and lasted to about the mid 1920’s. Many people thought that cancer was caused by some sort of trauma, which is irrational (Cancer Causes: Throughout History).

            Seeing that there are no theories that are the exact reason for the cause of cancer, meaning that there is no cure yet, there are many treatments to help get rid of cancer. Including Chemo, Radiation, surgery, Transplants, and other tested biological treatments to treat the growing cancer (Treatment & Side Effects). Radiation treatments attack cancer cells by trying to eliminate the DNA in a cell. The DNA in a cell is held in the nucleus, so without a nucleus the cell cannot work because the nucleus controls the cell like a brain would a human. The downside to Radiation or other treatments is that it can also eliminate normal cells too. In my mom’s case, as in many other cases, Radiations therapy is used along with Chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells. Chemotherapy uses strong drugs that kill cancer cells within the body (Types of Cancer Treatments). There are various side effects to having Chemo or Radiation since both these therapies can remove normal cells too: hair loss, change in appetite, easily gained infection, and nerve changes (Treatment & Side Effects). If you get tumors during the time you have cancer, surgery is one way to dispose of the tumor itself. My mom had all three treatments, along with transplants to regain the tissue she had lost during the surgery. It effects your whole life, so the only way to defeat cancer, is to get treatments before the cells spread too far.

            Rather than getting cancer, there are many ways to detect cancer early so that it doesn’t extend into the body further and cause more damage. There have been 1,638,910 new cases of cancer, and 577,190 deaths since the beginning of 2012. Screening is to check for signs and symptoms of cancer, many can be found before they cause problems or death (Screening and Testing to Detect Cancer). Since breast cancer affects a lot of women all over the world, it is a good idea to get tested every six months. For other cancers, if anything abnormal, like an ongoing sore, rash, or a lump anywhere on your body it should be checked by doctor immediately. Also you should see the doctor regularly to stay as healthy as possible.

            Cancer is life changing and life will never be the same after it is gone. Cells contribute to the cancer because it spreads and spreads until there is nowhere else to go. Prevention of cancer is almost impossible without knowing the exact cause of cancer, but there are many ways to screen and get treatment for it. Make sure to watch and be aware of what could be cancer and the options you have to defeat it.  You are the only who can realize and understand what happening. You are the one with the power to overcome it. And you are the one that will fight the cancer until it is gone.

Losing Flowers

 Author's Note: This is a creative piece on the life of a flower which is finding out the way of life and developing sympathy for the flower across the way.

            The view from the flower bed had always been exhilarating for the many flowers planted here. Every day the sun warmed our leaves and we were cooled down by a nice shower, clearing the dirt from our petals. I always thought it was nice being planted with other flowers. Since I am tulip, I rise a little beyond everyone, seeing small humans playing and large trees swaying.

            One day the heat from the sun was overwhelming, and my fellow flowers began to wilt. By night time they had mending with wood chips: dead. There was another flower just like me across the yard.  Like me it was along in the middle of dead flowers. We looked like two lonely stars in the night sky. The next day, was just as hot as the last and I began to think to myself if I would ever be surrounded more lovely flowers as I had been before. Dead flowers being ripped from the ground and thrown into large bags by humans was terrifying. It was the same for the flower in the next bed, it too was seeing what horrors the humans were doing to our kind and maybe we would be next.

            Just after the last flower was plucked from the bed, I knew something was going to happen. I knew it was something I had never seen before. I knew it would change my life along with the life of the other flower in the next bed. A human, mush taller than I’ve seen before, came out with little bags of seeds. It took a shovel and made a large hole and dropped a seed in it. This must be it, I thought, its’ planting new flowers!

            After weeks of anticipation, the seeds sprouted from the ground, growing tall and green. Buds blossomed from the tips of the stem and turn marvelous colors. When I was watching this miracle, I glanced across the way to notice that the other flower in the next bed was still alone. No flowers bloomed around it. Sadness grew through me, that flower was going to be alone for the rest of its life. My feeling in my heart for the flower grew as tall as the seeds next to me were.

            As the flowers next to me grew more beautiful, the flower across the way grew more alone. I stared for days on end until it became colder and windier. With the force of what seemed a never ending blow, the flower in the next bed, ripped out of the ground and swirled through the sky. My eyes followed the lost flower until I could see it moved behind the overgrown trees and disappeared. I wish I could have done something to help the flower be happy, but I could not. I knew I had more flowers around me, but nothing would fill the hole in my heart of where the other lost flower had lived before.