Fortitude

            Visualize yourself a teenager struggling between life and death, family or friends, and love. Only having a diminutive amount of time to make the correct decision in that moment in time or how it will affect the people and atmosphere around you. The two lives of Rachel Marsh and Katniss Everdeen relate and differentiate in various ways.

            Rachel Marsh, an indentured servant to John and Abigail Adams considers whether or not she can be a true American and trying to combine the reasoning of friends and overpowering uncle. Her uncle, a strict Tory with hard hitting words is holding her back from her true potential of finding who she really is and where she would like to go with her own life. Katniss Everdeen is in the similar situation, dealing with a horrific president, shedding the blood of dozens of Panem teenagers. Once Katniss is entered, she realizes that she either she might not be able to care for her family if she were to be killed during the Hunger Games. Both considered which decisions would lead them into the right direction.

            Though they lived out similar situations, they had completely different personalities which affected the decisions they made and how they made them. Rachel, a shy but open minded 14 year old girl was pushed and pulled in different directions to meet the needs of the people around her. It affected her decision making skills, since she was manipulated by her uncle it made her believe he could only make her important decisions. Same for Katniss, though she is strong minded, those decisions made by the President effected every choice she had to make.

            As if Katniss and Rachel would never come to a realization of how to solve their problems, the President and Rachel’s Uncle will soon find their hidden but strong independences. Both young girls grew strong after tragic uprisings early in their lives. Katniss, a girl who lost her father in a mining accident supplies her sister and distressed mom with food and money. Having this self liberty gave her strength to power through the strict and orderliness of the President. Rachel overcame her uncle relatively  the same way after her father died in the war and her mother a sick house servant for her uncle. One example from page thirty six of the ‘Fifth of March” shows how much she was similar to her father and how much he hated it. “No. Like your father. That Protestant-burning father, who ran off to get himself killed.”

            Overcoming difficulties takes more time and consideration than one would think. Once you overcome them, life is much clearer and more stable after you face the fact that was in your back pocket the whole time. “Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.” By Francis Bacon.

             

Lorian's Prediction

Imagine being able to create a real life illusion or to heal a person that was going to die in minutes.  The book serious “The Guardian of Time Trilogy” by Marianne Curly is based off Greek Mythology and special super hero like powers called the Guard. The Guard protects the world from the evil that lurks between each realm called the Order of Chaos. What would happen if Lorian, the head of The Guard, were to become a male and drop his positions at the head of The Guard?

Lorian once took the head of The Guard Lorian decided to be a non-gender do to this fact from “The Dark” the second book in the series: ‘I was born male. Having no fixed sex was a decision I made. To be a good leader I wanted to be impartial ad fair, and I felt I could only do that if I was of no sexual persuasion and desired none.’ After the battle between The Guard and The Order of Chaos I would believe that Lorian would become a male instead of a non-gender.

Though Lorian knows why he must be a non-gender it is hard for him to keep his eyes of Lady Arabella. Rochelle, a main character in “The Key”, has her own observation and is starting to become suspicious. This is Rochelle’s experience of this unknown affection between Lorian and Lady Arabella, “I get a sense of her gaze going straight over me and my eyes follow. Ahead, Lorian is staring back. It’s as if they are the only ones in the room- in the universe! The connection is so strong, so overpowering, that it throws my thoughts into confusion. What’s going on? Do they have feelings for each other? I mean, Lorian chooses to be neither male nor female, everyone knows that.”

Even if Lorian decides to become a male once again to be with Lady Arabella, their will need to be a lot of planning to make sure someone responsibly to take the throne. Arkarian, Lorian’s only son is one of the most respected people in all of The Guard. Rochelle and Dillon, both traitors from The Order of Chaos both put their hands in Arkarian because they trust that he trusts them and that they won’t be traitors to The Guard. Lorian even looks to his son for his bigger missions. Arkarian will be the next leader to The Guard.

           

Dropping the highest position of The Guard would be one of the most difficult things Lorian will ever do. Lorian has a loving and intelligent son to take his place once he leaves and many who would agree Arkarian will be great at the head of The Guard. If it is to love Lady Arabella, she must be what he devotes himself to. Love is all anyone needs to live happily.

Text Structure

          At age 14 life can be unpredictable, twists and turns of emotion you didn't even know could happen. In 1770, Rachel Marsh a 14 year old indentured servant to John and Abigail Adams discovers one flaw in her life that she has fix before it is to late.
          Everyone around Rachel has their mind set on which side they are rooting for, the British or the Patriots. Being under the Adams household everything seems more to be on the Patriot side. Jane and Henry Knox are her friends two of the only friends she has and they are both strictly Patriot. Then there is Matthew, a British sentry she has just befriended and has so many mixed emotions about. If she were to be seen in public with Matthew and someone were to see them together holding hands and that person were to spread the rumor that Rachel was a traitor it would ruin John Adams. If she were to become a Patriot she could never be seen with or even speak to Matthew again because every knew she was lying to which side she was on to her friends and employers. In the end Rachel made the right decision to become an American, a true American and since she was transferred from that employer to a different one and Matthew was living happily back in England this was the right choice.
           Fixing her problem between coming Patriot or a British was simple; be American. Becoming an American is choice because all she wants is to be heard and to be free to herself. It does not matter if you become an Patriot or British it is finding exactly what you desire to become and that is truly American.

Point of View

Author’s Note: These paragraphs explains how the point of view of the main character effects how the reader understands certain points in the book. I would like you to comment on how everything relates to each other in one way or another. 
Tory: The British Government
Patriots: The American 

In the “Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi comes from the point of view of Rachel Marsh. Rachel March is supposed to be an indentured servant of John and Abigail Adams during a time of rebellion for the colonies in America. Being under a Patriots’ house, Rachel is under the influence that she must respect the Adamses by following their beliefs. In 1770 British troops landed in Boston to bring peace to the colonies. A sentry by the name of Matthew Kilroy was in love with the moment he met her, though she wanted nothing to do but be friends. Matthew believed in having Tory. Having two rivaling opinions from each side confuses Rachel and also may confuse the reader because you never know what she will be thinking.

If the view point of the story would change, to say the view of Jane a pure patriot everything would change. Jane has her mind straight on that we the people should govern ourselves. No one could change her opinion, no matter how hard they tried. She was not being pulled from side to side by the beliefs of other people. Having Jane as the point of view would make the book petite and a very easy read. Though having Rachel as her friend, life would be hectic.

Misjudged

Author's Note: This piece is based on Darry Curtis a charactor from "The Outsiders" and how Ponyboy misjudges him. I would like you to comment on if I had enough background information on Darry and how he got to this point.

A teenager is always trying to figure out what life going to be like. Figuring this out can take time and during that time many mistakes can be made, especially after a death of a parent. Dropping out of school is another and this is the life Darry Curtis lives. Ponyboy misjudges him for what he has done, even though it's what Darry is doing for him and Soda. These misjudgments have made him who he is today. Is being misjudged as bad as everyone believes it to be?

When you are young it almost seems like nothing can go wrong and nothing could ever happen to you. Life is perfect, until tragedy strikes. Darry Curtis and his two younger brothers were left to survive on their own after their parents had died in a car crash. Darry was never the same after that. Ponyboy, the youngest of the three, always looked down on him because he was strict about school and house rules. All Darry ever wanted was to go to school and pursue a life other than he had, so he wanted Ponyboy to have what can’t. Darry pushed Ponyboy to do the right thing and protected him through everything though Ponyboy did not want it, just as a parent would do. One day Sodapop had run out of the house and Darry and Ponyboy chase after him to see what the matter is. Sodapop tells them that all this fighting between the two is tearing the family apart. Neither Darry nor Ponyboy suspected that was what the problem was.

Misjudging someone for pushing you to be better than they are is not a reason to dislike them. Taking the place of a parent is one of the most difficult things to do, especially when you are only 20 years old and have two teenagers to look after. Once you find that they are doing it because they love you and only want better for you than what they never had is only a reason to love them more.