Top Ten vocabulary words

1. bauble: A showy but useless thing.

She had a very pretty bauble made of porcelain sitting on the buffet.



2.Opulent: Rich, luxurious; wealthy

He lived in very opulent conditions with jewels on his fingers and eating delacacies that nobody else could afford.



3.Deviate: To turn aside from a course; to stray

Cindy deviated from her current course in the huge labrynth because she came to a dead end.



4. Obloquy: Strong disapproval; a bad reputation resulting.

By marrying the man of her dreams she brought obloquy on her self and was the talk of the town.



5.Sadistic: Deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on others.
Her brother was very sadistic when he picked on the poor bird that had been tortured by the cat.




6.Perfunctory: Done witout care; in a routine fashion.
The maid did everything in a perfunctory manner from making the beds in the morning to preparing afternoon tea in the afternoons.


7.Besmirch: To make dirty; To stain
Gale's reputation was besmirch because she played a prank on a fellow classmate that failed misserably and people made fun of her instead.


8.Rectify: To correct; to make right.
Mother tried to rectify herself for yelling at the child for being late from school because she didn't know that he had detention.


9.Hedonism: Pusuit of pleasure, especially of the senses.
The romans likded hedonism a lot since they lived in comfort and slaves did their bidding.


10.Debacle: Complete failure; a total collapse.
She felt very debacle because she had studied hard for the test and ended up with a lower grade then what she hoped for.

Cliche's Transformed

1. After all is said and done: When you have your say and then suffer the consequences.



2. Believe it or Not: Have faith or walk away.



3. Better Late then Never: Don't give up even when you think its hopeless.



4. Easier said then Done: Make it look easy when you take action rather then talk about it and do absolutely nothing.



5. In a Nutshell: Summarizing everything you just said.



6. Lesser of Two Evils: Picking an angry bear over the hungry dragon.



7. No Time Like the Present: Wait for the Crops to grow before you pick them.



8. See Eye to Eye: Our minds think that we are right.



9. Sink or Swim: spill the rocks from your pockets or it will hurt more with every step you take.



10. So Far so good: No one has come knocking on your door with bad news yet.

Writer's Moment: Personal Review of Persuasive Essay

My persuasive essay was created to encourage those around us to understand how the homeless suffer and how that we should get up and help even though we don't think its our job to do so. We don't always have to leave these problems to the government to solve even though we think that's what we should do. For there are people who use their time for others and only think of how to help the people in need. When will we all just stand and tel how we feel on a subject such as this even though its easier to just leave everything unsaid like everyone else does.

I believe that everyone can make a difference since we are the ones who made our country the way it is. Through all the turmoil of when America was settled and the wars break out. We still have survived and now a somewhat minor thing will pull us to our knees if we let it. All it takes is one person to have the thought,"How can we make this nation better and how can we do it?" So what will we do to change this world a little at a time? I think we could start with the people who live here and work for what they have when they can.

Persuasive Essay

This Nation Needs Help!

4.6% of America’s population is currently out of the job! Today, many charities are helping out the homeless; there are still to many problems with the population of people on the edge poverty for their efforts to be enough. This nation needs everyone’s help. What are Americans doing to help? Some are doing nothing, but others are standing on both of their feet every day to help out in soup kitchens. When others stay in the comfort of their homes cooking dinner for the family and waiting till their spouse comes home.

The poverty rate of our country is growing at an alarming rate and is becoming overwhelming. 41% are single males who are put out of the job, 41% are families, 13% are single females who may have toddlers, and 5% are unaccompanied minors in 1996 by the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients and now those numbers have doubled in size. All of the percentage rates will to continue to grow if nothing is done by the government and the everyday people of the country. Since the homeless population accounts for 50% of African Americans, 30% white, 12% Hispanic, 2 % Native American, and 1% Asian, and all types of ethnicities living in the streets and count on homeless shelters in order to survive each day.

Charities and homeless shelters like Daystar, Catholic Charities, and St. Vincent DePaul are doing their best to help out the poor every day, it is still not enough. They provide shelter and food for people who cannot get food stamps or social security because they do not fit the precise profile the government sets aside for the people who are unemployed and need assistance in order to go on living semi comfortably. Places like America’s Second Harvest, which is dedicated to ending hunger and starvation see hundreds of people every day, yet the numbers of people keep growing with each passing year. Making it noted that if you don’t have a college education, finding work is very hard and many people are ending up on the streets because of it.

But not all of the homeless are “lazy” and do nothing at all. Sometimes they are unfortunate and the economy makes it hard to live with a job that cannot support them at the cost of living continually rising. The people who walk pass the poor without even a word of kindness keep their money and other resources to themselves when they could be improving the growing poverty rate just by giving a donation to local charities that help the poor. Others say that the homeless do not work or pay taxes, so why should those who hold a job help out some one who is idle. The homeless are people to and need help like anyone else in this country. “Treat others like you would like to be treated,” teachers say to us in grade school and now how are you treating the people around you?

Charities are giving to the poor while many of the wealthy still think nothing is wrong and try to ignore the on-going crisis. They continue their lavish and comfortable lives with little or no consideration of others’ suffering. While others go hungry and rely on charities in order survive every day. I mean think of how good it feels to show others that you care by standing behind the counter ladling the daily ration to a person that has nothing but the clothes on their back and asks how you are and letting you know that you are giving back to the populace instead of only thinking of yourself. Put yourself in another’s shoes that might not fit right because they were given to you by a generous lady who saw that you had no shoes of your own on your feet and your stomach is rumbling because you have not made it to the soup kitchen which is still two blocks away.

Rebecca Holman
Persuasive Essay
Advanced Composition
2 October 2007

Writing Sample

Fiction

She sat outside her house thinking about the dress she would wear tomorrow when her fiance walked up the steps to her porch. "Oh, dear I have great news! we'll have the reception in that beautiful garden you love so much." He exclaimed invigoratedly. "Thats lovely, I can't wait till tomorrow."
She put her hand on her chest in all the excitement and remembered something her father used to say, "things that you get in this world comes from hard work, if they land in your lap then its strange like fiction, and you should do well not to except them." He told her over and over till the day he died and she would always sit there, nodding her head, until he drifted off to sleep.
The wedding day set, she glided down the aisle in her white, silk, dress studded with diamonds. They were joined in holy matrimony and made their way to the handsome reception they were going to have in the canopied garden with all it's fragrant, smelling, buds in bloom.
They danced until the moon showed it's milky surface in the blue, black, star studded sky. All of a sudden the Earth quaked beneath them and the wedded couple stopped dancing to see what was wrong. The ground shook more violently than before, as if in a wave, and he was just about to draw her to him in a protective manner when one of the beams from the canopy broke, hitting her on the head. She dropped dead in his arms. He looked down at her, "this is like fiction," and wept over her.