The Sun goes down on Summer

Shailee Stokes
4th Hour Honors English
September 7, 2010
The Sun goes down on Summer


When the sun goes down on my summer, I’m in a one hundred and ninty day black out. The last bell rings and I’m free.

Free to wear shorts that go above the knee. Free to wear tank tops and not have Mr. Mecham scream. I can wear flip flops and pull my hair back. The only make-up I wear is mud that will splash on me during a rainy days mud bog trip. No problem though, I’ll just jump in Joe’s Valley for a quick rinse. My clothes are filled with the smell of camp fire smoke and Aloe Vera relieves my skin from the suntan I attempted to get. My time is spent with long nights and sleepy days but just as I get accustomed to the luminous days and starry nights, the lights turn off.

Back to an eight hour sleep, pants that go longer than the knee and shirts with sleeves. My hot pink toe nails and flip-flop tan line is covered up by shoes and socks. My hair is done with curls that must rock. I sling my book bag on, that is sure to break my back. Off to school I go, just dreaming and waiting for the day that that summer sun will rise again. Back for another year filled with homework, drama and gossip. I go to class and learn about acids and bases but then I see people I haven’t seen for months. This isn’t so bad I think, and a smile crosses my face.

Me as a Writer

Shailee Stokes

4^th Hour Honors English

Me as a Writer

August 31, 2010

            My mother was the first influence on my writing. She was the one to teach me how to write as early as preschool. The first thing I learned was how to spell and write my name correctly. My mom was very positive about the whole situation, even if I struggled tremendously in both my hand writing and spelling. Finally one day I got it down, but still to this day I do tend to struggle with some spelling and my hand writing can get a little sloppy. Practice makes perfect but thank goodness for computers!

            Writing letters to “Santa Claus” as a little kid really helped my writing experiences. By writing letters to Santa, I was able to express my feelings and what I really wanted down on paper. It was also a time to work on my hand writing. I believe writing can sometimes be very challenging, but now as I get older I’m becoming more confident as a writer, thanks to many teachers. I think having to write many different papers in school helped with my writing because I was able to explore different ways to write and also different subjects to write about, not just to make a list and have to check it twice.

            The papers I write depend on the type and also my audience. The people who will be reading my paper or the people I will be reading too, influence my writing.  The type of paper and the audience are important to keep in mind. If I were to write a love letter, my mom probably wouldn’t want to read it. Same thing if I were to write a talk for church my class mates probably would not be interested, making the audience a huge key to my writing.

Due to my ninth grade year, I no longer like to write poetry. I just found myself looking for words that rhyme and not really caring about what the poem said. I hope to change my mind on poetry in the next few years but that is one type of writing I do not like. After my tenth grade year, my favorite paper to write so far has been a research paper. I like how organized you must be and I liked finding out so much on just one subject. It felt like I was actually writing and not just making up sayings that rhymed

            As a writer one thing I would like to improve on is expanding my vocabulary. Using words that I don’t usually use but the most important thing in writing is to have fun while doing it.  My advice is to have a good time while writing your paper and it will become easier.