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.