The Unusual - revision

He talked to it, and loved it. He always wanted to learn more about it. 

Whenever he brought it with him to school, every teacher got mad at him, 

and his friends got scared because they thought it could hurt them, since they thought it had magical powers. It looked scary. Its age and color were the main factors for it to frighten other people. However he never minded what other people thought. He was going to take care of it and try to learn its secrets. Its awful smell was the first thing he wanted to figure out. The smell was always there, but he didn't mind carrying it wherever he went with its terrible smell. He also wanted to figure out the reason of its darkness. Some people said it was colorless, but he believed that it had bright colors; it had bright colors that could made everyone believe that it was harmless. 

One day the little boy brought it with him to school again. His friends started to ask him where he got it from. He said that it was from their basement. One of his friends tried to take it away from the little boy, and when he did, he started hitting it. The little boy started crying over it. 

The boy went home crying, and he put it on his desk. He started staring at 

it for hours. Was he scared of it? No. Was he going to throw it away? No. 

So why did he want to learn more about an old book that was hidden in 

their basement for a long time?

The Unusual - first draft

He talked to it, and loved it. He always wanted to learn more about it. Whenever he brought it with 

him to school, every teacher got mad at him, and his friends got scared because they thought it 

could hurt them. It looked scary. Its oldness, and color were the main factors for it to be 

marginalized by other people. However he never minded what other people thought. He was going 

to take care of it, and try to learn its secrets. Its awful smell was the first thing to reason out for him. 

The smell was always there; he didn't mind carrying it wherever he went with its terrible smell. He 

also wanted to figure out the reason of its color. Some people said it was colorless, but he believed 

that it had a color; it had a color that could made everyone believe that it was harmless. 

One day he brought it with him to school again. His friends started to ask him where he got it from. 

He said that it was from their basement. One of his friends tried to take it away from him, when he 

did, he started to hit it. The little boy started crying over it. 

The boy went home crying, and he put it on his desk. He started staring at it for hours. Was he 

scared of it? No. Was he going to throw it away? No. So why did he want to learn more about an 

old book that was hidden in their basement for a long time?

The Unusual-first paragraph

He talked to it, and loved it. He always wanted to learn more about it. Whenever he brought it with him to school, every teacher got mad at him, and his friends got scared because they thought it could hurt them. It looked scary. Its oldness, and color were the main factors for it to be marginalized by other people. However he never minded what other people thought. He was going to take care of it, and try to learn its secrets. Its awful smell was the first thing to reason out for him. The smell was always there; he didn't mind carrying it wherever he went with its terrible smell. He also wanted to figure out the reason of its color. Some people said it was colorless, but he believed that it had a color; it had a color that could make everyone believe that it was harmless. 

About "The Book Report"

In this animated video called "The Book Report" from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" we can see four different kinds of approach of writing. Lucy's style of writing seems like it is the most convenient one. In the beginning she tries to write her book report really fast, so that she can get it done really quick, but when she counts the words in her report she understands that she should explain more, and add details to make it longer. After that, she erases all of her work, and starts to write a whole new report by starting with a positive attitude, and paying attention to the details in the story. I believe that this kind of writing style, which is describing the story with her own words, is a good way to describe her feelings about the story. She can add her emotions on the report if she only uses her ideas, and informations about the book. She can be more creative, and her imagination can help her find new thoughts about the book. On the other hand, if she can't find anything to write or say she might not continue writing, since she doesn't make a research or get help from other people's ideas. Another kind of writing style was what Schroeder did. He started writing the report really good, but then he realized that he was out of ideas. He tried writing, but then he always erased what he wrote. After that, he realized that he could give an example of Robin Hood, since the book is relevant to that, and he knows his story very well. He started to write the report as it was an example of Robin Hood. It made him think bigger, and more creatively. I think that this kind of writing style might be a good way if he can't find anything to write. Using other examples can help Schroeder to find new ideas, and more detailed explanations about the book, but he can also get lost if he talks a lot about Robin Hood instead of talking about the book. He might continue giving examples of Robin Hood, or he might even just tell the story of Robin Hood. That's what happened a little in the video. Linus was the one that couldn't start writing because he was too busy doing researches about the book. He collected a lot of informations, but he couldn't write them, since he couldn't find a way to connect all of them. I believe that researching a lot might be bad for that reason. Having a lot of information is good, but planning how to use those informations is important.  Charlie Brown always complained about how he was going to find the time to write, and how tired he was. He always thought about starting tomorrow when he is rested, and he can think better, but in the end he decided to write the report, and he started writing it. I believe that the way he started writing the report was not a good way, since he had negative thoughts, but when he was determined to finish it that day, he could finally start. 

I believe that I have common characteristics with Lucy. I like using my own ideas while I'm writing reports, or other writings. Expressing my own thoughts is an important way for me to develop my writing. Lucy was the neatest of all three, and I believe that I'm neat while I'm writing, too. Because I can write my paragraphs in a neat way, and that helps me to think better while I'm writing. Lucy was counting the words while she was writing to make sure that she had enough words for the assignment. Sometimes that is something I do, too if it's a short essay, and there is a word limit. Lucy is a writer that is determined to finish her task right on time. I do the same. If a task is given for a specific time, I would try to finish it before it's due, so that I can check it later, and if there are errors I can correct them. I also try to finish my writings when I start them, since I usually have a lot of ideas when I start writing them, and I am scared that I can lose them if I stop writing. That's what Lucy did also. She started, and finished it at the same time. 

Grammar Review

-It's convenient for me to eat the rice noodles with only a pair of chopsticks, or you can use a fork if you want. Since the noodles are boiled with soup, the dish is usually called rice noodles soup. 

-The food has taken a significant place in our history, from the beginning of the Ottoman Empire until now. 

About Ann Hendley's Blog Posts

Two of the blog posts by Ann Handley are about the ways to improve writing skills. The first one that I have read is called “9 Qualities Of Good Writing”. In the beginning of this blog post, the writer first introduces us the ways to improve our writing skills. She says that everybody is capable of good writing, or at least better writing. I believe that this sentence of her is true, because she also mentions that everyone writes in a part of their lives including the things they wrote on social media. I think that everyone has a talent of writing inside of them that they usually don’t use, or show. In this blog post she always mentions how good writing should be the kind of simple writing that everyone can understand, and it should carry importance. She also quotes one of her professors’ words saying “Assume the reader knows nothing. But don’t assume the reader is stupid.” I agree with this quote because I think that a writer should describe their feelings, or stories really good, so that people who don’t know them can understand what is being told in the writing. The second blog post that I have read from her is called “13 Writing Rules”. In this blog post we can see the more general kind of the first blog post. She lists thirteen important writing rules. I really liked how before listing the rules she says “Everybody Writes” I believe that she is definitely correct about this as I mentioned earlier that everyone writes on social media nowadays. I really liked her first rule that says “There is no way to write.” I believe that by that she tries to mean that writing should be something personal, and should be natural. 

Food Essay Review

I think my Food Essay's grade would be a 4 or 3.5. I think my thesis is specific enough to let reader know what my essay is about. I have a long introduction, so I had to write more on my body paragraphs. I believe that I have written as much as I could to balance my body paragraphs, and introduction. I might still have some problems in my conclusion, but I tried avoiding repeating what I have written in my introduction. I also tried using a wide vocabulary, and tried avoiding the usage of words such as thing, or really. 

Getting Better

I had some goals that I have wanted to accomplish this year before I had started to take this class. I have always wanted to write a novel, or a short story without making mistakes in my grammar, and by using different words to use a wide range of vocabulary. I believe that I have started to create my book’s outline very good, because now I can also write better body paragraphs, introductions, and conclusions for the chapters in my book. By creating outlines in class, I can now think better when I want to write my story. Before I started taking this class I tried writing other stories, and I always got stuck since I couldn’t create a good outline for my story. Now I can think better, and predict better before I start writing my phrases.

One of my goals other than writing a book was to be able to use a correct grammar. I believe that, even though I make some grammar mistakes, I had improved the way I use grammar. I learnt new grammatical errors, and also learnt how to fix them. By this way I had improved my sentence writing skills, and now I can be more sure about the ways I use grammar.

I can say that for sure I developed my writing skills. With this class, I learnt how to start writing an essay. I learnt the major elements of an introduction, and conclusion. I saw that thesis is almost the most important thing about an essay. Writing body paragraphs, and connecting them to the introduction, and conclusion is also one of the most important things that I have learnt.

Of all these things that I have developed I still need to work on some other things. I am working on an essay right now, and it’s about food. I think that I’m doing good for now, but I need to work more on my body paragraphs, and my conclusion. I still need to develop my conclusions, since I believe that usually there is redundancy in my conclusion. I need to talk more about the things that are different from the introduction.

I believe that at the end of this year I will achieve all of my goals, and will develop my writing skills more.

Things to Revise On My Final Draft

In my essay about the Turkish Food called "Imam Bayildi" I am working on my conclusion, and body paragraphs. My conclusion is really short for now, and it repeats what is in the introduction. I will try making it more general, and add more things using the ideas that are in the body paragraphs. I have my thesis in my conclusion, too. It is one of the things that makes it repetitive. I will talk more about the tales about the food, since they have a big importance in the body paragraphs. I will try making the conclusion more like a closure than a background information. For that I have to add some thoughts that will make the reader tell that they are close to the end of the essay. 

For my body paragraphs first, I have to find topic sentences, and develop them more. I think my topic sentences might be a little bit too specific, or too, general, so I’ll make them more about the paragraph that they start. The ending sentences should also be developed in my essay. The connection between paragraphs are not smooth. I need to find the right ending sentences to connect them to each other, and also to the thesis. I need to add more background information to my body paragraphs. Because I have a long introduction paragraph, so I need to make my body paragraphs longer than my introduction paragraph. 

The Imam Has Fainted

Food is really important in Turkey. It is one of the most significant things that makes the country unique. For Turkish people, it is not easy to eat every meal. As a Turkish I can say that I don’t eat every meal; I choose the ones that I love. That’s why Turkish food have unique, and amazing tastes. The food takes an important place in our history; from the beginning of The Ottoman Empire until now. Even through so many changes in empires, and communities in Turkey, the food was one of the only things that protected its significance. 

There are a couple of different kinds of foods in Turkey. They are: homemade foods, meats, breakfasts, summer cuisine, and other key ingredients for the food. The key ingredients include eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, lamb, beef, chicken, fish, and garlic. They give the taste to most of the famous food like kebab. Different kinds of herbs, and spices also help the meal to have a great taste. One of the most common spices are black pepper, paprika, and mint. The breakfasts are famous, too. The most famous kind of breakfast is the Van Breakfast. It is endemic to a city called Van that is located on the east side of Turkey. Meats are usually the most significant food type in Turkish Cuisine. Some important food that mostly contain meat are beans with ground meat, spinach with ground meat, and rice with meat. 

Of all these great food, one of the most famous food is called Imam Bayildi. It literally means The Imam Fainted (Imam is an Islamic leadership position.). It is a homemade food, and its main ingredients are eggplant, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and olive oil. This meal is really unique due to its origin of the name. There are two tales about this food that haven’t been proved as correct. 

One of them is about an Imam who had a wife. One day his wife cooked this meal to him, and he liked it so much, that he fainted. In Turkish liking something a lot is the same word as fainting, so that’s why they called it The Imam Fainted.

The other story is also about an Imam who is married to a daughter of an olive oil merchant. The dowry of his wife consisted a lot of jars of the finest olive oil. His wife cooked him The Imam Bayildi every day. On the thirteenth day, the Imam couldn’t find eggplant on the dinner table, and understood that they ran out of olive oil. When he learnt this he was so sad that he fainted because of his sadness. 

The Imam Bayildi has a strong flavor of eggplant, since it mostly contains eggplant. Its smell is mixed with the smell of onions, garlic, and eggplant. It has tomatoes in it, so it makes it more delicious. Usually tomatoes are located on the top of the food, and usually they are not sliced. Adding pepper in it makes it better. It makes the meal a little bit spicy. 

I really like this meal because it has a unique taste. People usually eat it while it’s still hot, but adding yoghurt, and eating it while it’s cold can be a good idea, too. While eating it cold, it tastes like an eggplant salad; it is another meal which is also famous in Turkey. 

I really like the one that my mom cooks for us. My mom does not add meat in it, so we just only eat eggplant, and other ingredients in it. It makes the meal lighter because Imam Bayildi is a filling meal. It is because of its ingredients. It has rich ingredients, and olive oil which makes it filling. The first time I tasted Imam Bayildi, I didn’t like it that much. Perhaps it was because the first time I’ve ever seen it, or tasted it, but at second time I loved it. 

Of all the great Turkish Food, the Imam Bayildi is famous not only with its taste, but its history. Not all the foods in the world have different kinds of stories, but Imam Bayildi’s story makes it more interesting, and noteworthy. 

Spending More Time With My Brother

This year I want to spend more time with my brother during the summer break. It is difficult to see him very often, since we both have school in different places. He goes to college in Indiana, so we're very far from each other. Our breaks are different, too. Winter Break, and Summer Break are the only times where we can see each other, and talk about our lives in America. It is not possible for us to spend time like we used to do before we went to America, but at least seeing each other twice a year, and spending a lot of time together during the breaks can be a good idea. I also need to spend time with him to have advice about getting into colleges, since I need to be prepared when I apply to colleges. 

5 Resolutions for 2015

This year I want to:

1.Travel to France to visit my cousin,

2.Have good grades at school,

3.Be successful in the basketball team,

4.Visit the east coast of Turkey,

5.Spend more time with my brother during summer.