Project Proposal with Rubric out of 100 points:
I will post sections of my short story to this page daily for student review. I will also read and comment on two students' work each day.
(50 pts.)
I will grade myself on writing style, plot, character development, mechanics, and reader interest. (30 pts.)
I will grade myself on making relevant, insightful comments each day. (20 pts.)
Due at the End of Class on 4/23:
Project description.
The first page of my short story
Due at the End of Class on 4/24:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Due at the End of Class on 4/28:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Due at the End of Class on 4/30:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Presentations/Celebration will occur on Friday, May 1.
Posted 4/23/09
“Mom, did you check the mailbox today?” I yelled as I ran inside. I was so excited that I hadn’t been able to concentrate all week in school. Where was that letter? It was more than a week ago I went to the interview and now I was dying to find out if I had been approved. I had a good feeling, and everybody told me I was well qualified to be an exchange student, but there was still a change they wouldn’t approve me. The interview went very well and my interviewers were nice and extremely positive. But I still needed the letter for it to become real. Being an exchange student was my dream for so many years, if YFU didn’t approve me I wouldn’t know what to do. Living a year in a host family in the United States sounded as the perfect thing to do before finishing high school.
This day my mom came to the door, just as excited as me. She was holding a thick envelope from YFU in her hands, and told me how she had been waiting with anxiety for me to come home and open it. My hands were shaking as I ripped it open and I felt my heartbeat raising as I pulled the letter out. I had to take a deep breath before I could read it.
“Congratulations Kelly Mathews, we are happy to inform you that you have been approved for an YFU exchange program to the United States.” I read the sentence a couple times, just to make sure it wasn’t something I was dreaming. Then I realized what I just read and started jumping up and down almost screaming, “I got accepted, I’m going to the US, I got accepted.” My mom hugged me and I ran to the phone to call my dad. I just couldn’t stop smiling. This was my first step towards fulfilling my dream. I think it was the best letter I ever received and I had never felt happier.
The next day in school I had to tell my friends. I was having lunch with Charlotte, Molly, Christy, Matt, Kevin, and my boyfriend, Ryan. They were all my closets friends and I had been so excited to tell them about the letter since I read it.
“Hey guys, you know how I applied to be an exchange student?” I said as soon as I sat down.
“Yeah, mmhh,” they all murmured.
“I got accepted. I got the letter yesterday!!”
“Oh my Gosh, that’s amazing. Congrats Kel,” Molly yelled loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear it.
While we were talking about it Ryan didn’t say a thing. It hurt me that he wasn’t happy for me at all, he was just sitting there.
“Aren’t you proud of her?” Christy asked. She apparently also picked up on his reluctance to congratulate me.
“Sure. Congrats Kelly,” Ryan replied as he looked down on the table.
“Is that really all you have to say? This is my dream; can’t you for once be happy for me?” I could feel how I was getting angry now.
“But what about us? Why didn’t you discuss this with me at all?” Ryan asked
“I signed up before we started dating; you know when you were still with Mary"
Posted 4/24/09 “No! You can’t go, you can’t just leave me like that!” Ryan had grabbed my arm and almost dragged me out of my chair. “I’ll do whatever I want to. Don’t even think you can control me like that!” I was so angry that I was shaking as I pulled back from Ryan, who wouldn’t let go of me. “Wow you obviously don’t even care about me. I just thought we had something, I guess not! Go to the US if you want to, but don’t expect me to be waiting around for you!” Ryan said in a tone revealing how hurt he was. “I won’t! It wasn’t like I was planning on staying with you forever anyways!” as soon as I said that I realized how mean it actually sounded. “Baby, can’t you see I’m just sad you’re leaving?” “I’m not your baby!” I said as I slapped him across the face. I was so mad that I couldn’t control myself anymore. Everybody at the table gasped, as they waited for Ryan’s reaction. But they never imagined what would happen. Ryan knocked me in the face so hard that I fell to my feet. The pain was indescribable, and I just wanted to scream. Instantly I could feel my face getting swollen and it was burning where Ryan hit me. The entire cafeteria was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and everybody had turned their attention toward our table and me on the floor. “Ouch, I had never seen that one coming!” “Oh my God, are you okay?” “Kelly!” Charlotte, Molly, and Christy ran to check up on me when Ryan said: “I’m so sorry Kel, I don’t know what happened to me. I promise it’ll never happen again!” “Yeah you’re right, cause you’ll never touch me again! You hear me, NEVER!” With the help from my girlfriends I came back on my feet and ran to the door. I didn’t care that I wasn’t supposed to leave, I knew I just had to get away. “Kelly, wait!” Ryan yelled as he started running after me. “Don’t! Let her go,” Kevin said as he jumped in front of Ryan to stop him. “Move, I can’t let her go like this!” Ryan pushed Kevin in the chest and kept running. He wasn’t stopped until a security guard blocked the door for him, and pushed him against the wall. Ryan looked down and tears were falling from his eyes. I continued and ran all the way to the parking lot where I grabbed my keys and got into my car. “Nooo! Why, why, why?” I asked as the tears were streaming down my cheeks and I repeatedly knocked my forehead against the steering wheel. What was supposed to be a good day turned into a nightmare. I still couldn’t believe what happened in the cafeteria, but my burning cheek reminded me that it did in fact happen. Now I was even more excited to leave this place and leave it all behind in a few weeks. I don’t even know what I looked like when I came home. I had mascara all over my face, my cheek was swollen, and my eyes bloodshot from crying. “Honey, what happened?” My mom ran to me and held me in her arms. I just started crying again as I told her what took place in the cafeteria.
I will post sections of my short story to this page daily for student review. I will also read and comment on two students' work each day.
(50 pts.)
I will grade myself on writing style, plot, character development, mechanics, and reader interest. (30 pts.)
I will grade myself on making relevant, insightful comments each day. (20 pts.)
Due at the End of Class on 4/23:
Project description.
The first page of my short story
Due at the End of Class on 4/24:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Due at the End of Class on 4/28:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Due at the End of Class on 4/30:
Half a page to my short story.
Comment on two students' work
Presentations/Celebration will occur on Friday, May 1.
Posted 4/23/09
“Mom, did you check the mailbox today?” I yelled as I ran inside. I was so excited that I hadn’t been able to concentrate all week in school. Where was that letter? It was more than a week ago I went to the interview and now I was dying to find out if I had been approved. I had a good feeling, and everybody told me I was well qualified to be an exchange student, but there was still a change they wouldn’t approve me. The interview went very well and my interviewers were nice and extremely positive. But I still needed the letter for it to become real. Being an exchange student was my dream for so many years, if YFU didn’t approve me I wouldn’t know what to do. Living a year in a host family in the United States sounded as the perfect thing to do before finishing high school.
This day my mom came to the door, just as excited as me. She was holding a thick envelope from YFU in her hands, and told me how she had been waiting with anxiety for me to come home and open it. My hands were shaking as I ripped it open and I felt my heartbeat raising as I pulled the letter out. I had to take a deep breath before I could read it.
“Congratulations Kelly Mathews, we are happy to inform you that you have been approved for an YFU exchange program to the United States.” I read the sentence a couple times, just to make sure it wasn’t something I was dreaming. Then I realized what I just read and started jumping up and down almost screaming, “I got accepted, I’m going to the US, I got accepted.” My mom hugged me and I ran to the phone to call my dad. I just couldn’t stop smiling. This was my first step towards fulfilling my dream. I think it was the best letter I ever received and I had never felt happier.
The next day in school I had to tell my friends. I was having lunch with Charlotte, Molly, Christy, Matt, Kevin, and my boyfriend, Ryan. They were all my closets friends and I had been so excited to tell them about the letter since I read it.
“Hey guys, you know how I applied to be an exchange student?” I said as soon as I sat down.
“Yeah, mmhh,” they all murmured.
“I got accepted. I got the letter yesterday!!”
“Oh my Gosh, that’s amazing. Congrats Kel,” Molly yelled loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear it.
While we were talking about it Ryan didn’t say a thing. It hurt me that he wasn’t happy for me at all, he was just sitting there.
“Aren’t you proud of her?” Christy asked. She apparently also picked up on his reluctance to congratulate me.
“Sure. Congrats Kelly,” Ryan replied as he looked down on the table.
“Is that really all you have to say? This is my dream; can’t you for once be happy for me?” I could feel how I was getting angry now.
“But what about us? Why didn’t you discuss this with me at all?” Ryan asked
“I signed up before we started dating; you know when you were still with Mary"
Posted 4/24/09
“No! You can’t go, you can’t just leave me like that!” Ryan had grabbed my arm and almost dragged me out of my chair.
“I’ll do whatever I want to. Don’t even think you can control me like that!” I was so angry that I was shaking as I pulled back from Ryan, who wouldn’t let go of me.
“Wow you obviously don’t even care about me. I just thought we had something, I guess not! Go to the US if you want to, but don’t expect me to be waiting around for you!” Ryan said in a tone revealing how hurt he was.
“I won’t! It wasn’t like I was planning on staying with you forever anyways!” as soon as I said that I realized how mean it actually sounded.
“Baby, can’t you see I’m just sad you’re leaving?”
“I’m not your baby!” I said as I slapped him across the face. I was so mad that I couldn’t control myself anymore.
Everybody at the table gasped, as they waited for Ryan’s reaction. But they never imagined what would happen. Ryan knocked me in the face so hard that I fell to my feet. The pain was indescribable, and I just wanted to scream. Instantly I could feel my face getting swollen and it was burning where Ryan hit me. The entire cafeteria was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and everybody had turned their attention toward our table and me on the floor.
“Ouch, I had never seen that one coming!” “Oh my God, are you okay?” “Kelly!” Charlotte, Molly, and Christy ran to check up on me when Ryan said: “I’m so sorry Kel, I don’t know what happened to me. I promise it’ll never happen again!”
“Yeah you’re right, cause you’ll never touch me again! You hear me, NEVER!”
With the help from my girlfriends I came back on my feet and ran to the door. I didn’t care that I wasn’t supposed to leave, I knew I just had to get away.
“Kelly, wait!” Ryan yelled as he started running after me.
“Don’t! Let her go,” Kevin said as he jumped in front of Ryan to stop him.
“Move, I can’t let her go like this!” Ryan pushed Kevin in the chest and kept running. He wasn’t stopped until a security guard blocked the door for him, and pushed him against the wall. Ryan looked down and tears were falling from his eyes. I continued and ran all the way to the parking lot where I grabbed my keys and got into my car.
“Nooo! Why, why, why?” I asked as the tears were streaming down my cheeks and I repeatedly knocked my forehead against the steering wheel. What was supposed to be a good day turned into a nightmare. I still couldn’t believe what happened in the cafeteria, but my burning cheek reminded me that it did in fact happen. Now I was even more excited to leave this place and leave it all behind in a few weeks. I don’t even know what I looked like when I came home. I had mascara all over my face, my cheek was swollen, and my eyes bloodshot from crying.
“Honey, what happened?” My mom ran to me and held me in her arms. I just started crying again as I told her what took place in the cafeteria.
Final Comments/Self-Evaluation: