You are going to write in any genre to express an idea, feeling or emotion related to the media's coverage of Hurricane Katrina. You should start to think about: What is the message that you want to give to your reader? What is the best genre to get this information across? You can go to http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/default.asp , and/or http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/cyberenglish9/multi_genre/multigenre.htm#Types%20of%20Genres to explore different genres of writing.
This writing piece can be inspired from watching the documentary, listening to the transcripts, and reading the original work by teachers and students.
You are to use the writing process to create this piece- freewriting, drafting, revision - STAR, self conference. You should have a couple of drafts when you get back to school on the 5th. We will then peer conference regarding the drafts and revise so that they are of final draft quality.
Keep in mind the organization, controlling idea, appropriate information, characteristics of the genre you chose, the amount and quality of revision, and the conventions of the piece.
Please post the last draft that you write on this blog.
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wait so do we do a draft tonight? and do we posts the draft?
ReplyDelete-gabby Y from period dos
ANSWERS
ReplyDeleteby: donna wylie
I'm scared.
hungry,
cold and
alone.
mammas gone.
I don't know if shes dead or alive.
Daddys dead, and been dead.
When will ANSWERS arrive?
This mass destruction, when will it end?
Babies are crying without mothers to ease them.
Death surrounds us.
The aroma can kill.
Our cries for help are ignored.
Are we mute to them?
I'm living with my neighbors.
They try to comfort my sobs,
although i know tears will not bring my parents back. (that is all on one line)
Endless days and restless nights.
That is what my life has become.
An empty hell hole pf destruction and death,
is what lively, lively New Orleans has become.
The fear of not knwing what the next day will bring (all on one line)
is detiorating my insides.
I feel so weak.
As if this isn't enough,
Christmas will be arriving soon.
It used to be a time that spread happiness.
But now,
But now the thought of it depresses me,
and confuses me.
i see spray painted Christmas trees on walls,
and wishlists asking for help.
WHY did this have to happen!?
WHY were we punished so cruely!?
WHY!?
I NEED ANSWERS!
By: Donna Wylie
Min Kang
ReplyDeleteIrresponsible
For days and days
Every hour felt like
A year
I’ve seen Canadian officials
Venezuelans officials
But yet
No American officials
Were to be
FOUND.
Where is OUR government?
While we emaciate!
While we cry!
While we ask for help!
While we rot!
The responsibilities of the government
Has been drained!
Shopping for shoes
Fly fishing
Broadway shows
Are those more prior
Than we?
They said they
Are there for us
They said they
Will be with us
What happened to
For the people,
With the people,
By the people?
Has it been forgotten?
Have they forgotten their jobs and responsibilities?
Government is irresponsible
For we haven’t gotten
ANY help.
We will
Wait,
We will
Wait.
And we will
Keep in mind
These days.
You only have to post the last draft that you do this week. You should have at least 2 drafts when you get back to school on the 5th!
ReplyDeleteTime
ReplyDeleteBy Brianna Hungerford
Time stood still once they'd heard the news.
The levees had been broken and no one had a clue
Just how bad the damage would be until they witnessed it themselves.
And, trust me, these victims weren't the evacuees.
The smell was intimidating,
And the sounds were so clear.
People were crying out for help;
Crying with fear.
Terrified for their lives,
They carried on through the debris.
Some thought there was no hope,
Some failed to disagree.
With the water above their heads,
And children on their backs,
The time would pass so slowly
With no help guaranteed.
For the government said that if you were one not to leave,
They could not, would not help you.
And with that, came the destruction of New Orleans.
Nameless, dead bodies floated about.
Oh, how many there were.
Babies sat on rooftops
While a helpless soul drowned.
Today in New Orleans,
Not everything is clean.
There is still some debris
Left among the streets.
People come back to the place they call home and see all the markings left there for them:
Five hazards, Zero bodies.
And finally, the begin to see a change...
Eight hazards, Twelve bodies.
They don't know what to do or what to feel.
For now, they will rebuild their city to the best of their abilities
Hoping more help might come along.
If you were one capable of doing all that you could,
Tell me, why didn't you help?
English Break Homework: Narrative essay draft #2
ReplyDeleteBy: Robin Olszewski 902
It’s been four years and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was in my house baking cookies with my family because it was my sisters Leah’s birthday the next day. The TV was on in the kitchen and we were told to evacuate immediately. Hurricane Katrina was heading towards us. We grabbed water and non-perishable foods and got in our car. There was bumper to bumper traffic and we got no where. So we finally got out and walked to the Super Dome. When we finally arrived there were already thousands of people there. The police men and firemen were trying to help out as much as possible but there were just too many of us for it to make a big difference.
Days passed by and still nothing had changed. The Leeves broke on Sunday August 28th and it was horrible. Water rushed everywhere, more and more people filed in and Katrina was hitting us hard. The winds and water ripped the roof off of the super dome. We had to evacuate our, what was supposed to be a save haven. Later while talking to one of the police men, we found out that the Leeves broke. More than half of New Orleans was flooded. People lost everything including us. It was so hard to not be able to just go back to our house. It smelled so strongly of urine, death and bad B.O. People were living like animals! Your clothes were dirty and wet. You felt sick and people including some kids were raped. You wouldn’t believe the things I heard and saw. There was this one old man who live down the block from me and he jumped 50 feet to his death because he said that he had nothing left to live for.
After a few days passed we moved onto the bridge. It was one of the only spots that weren’t completely under water. At this point we had nothing, no food, water, clothes, or shelter. It was so sad to watch my baby sister have to live like this, and she was only 7 years old. The living environment was very similar to the ones at the Super Dome. Smelled a bit less because we were out in the open but still very bad. We started talking to this family that was in a similar situation as us and we decided that we were going to try to walk to the end of the bridge and see if there was any power or electricity. Early one morning, I’m not sure what day it was, we set out to walk. When we finally got to the other side there were armed gun men holding us at gunpoint telling us to turn around and go back. We were stuck on the bridge, all of us. Everyday more people came and other tried to leave but never succeed.
The thing that got me most aggravated was the fact that no body was trying to help us. President Bush took this as a joke and didn’t do anything. Condoleezza Rice was shopping and going to see Broadway shows. The governor and the mayor were on two totally separate pages, not even they were on two separate books! To this day it gets me furious to talk about it. It could’ve gone a lot easier and smoother if everyone who had power tried to help. And when they didn’t do anything and we tried to take it into our own hands we were held at gun point.
After a couple of weeks of living on the bridge, buses came and brought people to places around the U.S.A. Leah and I were flown to L.A. in California and my parents were flown to Houston Texas. We were so far away from each other and didn’t even know how to contact each other. Leah and I lived in California for a little over 2 years and then we finally found our parents and moved back to New Orleans. After we got back to our house we collected what was left and moved into the FEMA trailer in our backyard. It’s been two more years and my family and I are still living in a FEMA trailer. We are all living in a “house” that is the size of my old bedroom. I think that the worst part of everything is seeing my house but not being able to go in it. It’s right there but there really isn’t anything left. Now looking back at it, we were pretty lucky because some people lost EVERYTHING and we didn’t. I think that for Hurricane Katrina being a category 5 hurricane we were lucky that it didn’t hit us, only the leeves broke.
USED TO BE
ReplyDeleteBY MONICA SHARMA
MY LIFE USED TO BE PERFECT AND COMPLETE
FILLED WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS AND HAPPINESS
BEFORE HURRICANE KATRINA ARRIVED
AND TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING I HAD IN NEW ORLEANS
MY FAMILY
MY FRIENDS
MY HOME AND MY LIFE
SUCKED INTO THE DEADLYSWIRL OF KATRINA
BECAUSE OF THAT
I HAD TO SEE MY SISTER CAROLYN
KICKING AND SPLASHING 20 FEET UNDER
AND MY DEAR FATHER
LIFELESS BODY FLOATING AWAY
BUT WHERE WAS MY MOMMY?
I’M TERRIFIED AND COLD
I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO
AND NOT EVEN A PLACE TO CALL HOME
ANYMORE
THE SCHOOL I USED TO GO TO
IS NOW NO MORE
AND THE APARTMENT BUILDING I USED TO LIVE IN
IS NOW LIKE GROUND ZERO
EVERYONE I PASS BY
ARE CRYING HYSTERICALLY
WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO US?
WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS DISASTER?
I TRY TO COMFORT THEM
AND TO TELL THEM EVERYTING IS OK
BUT MY OWN TEARS COME RUSHING DOWN
AND I CAN’T STOP
I’VE LOST EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE
IN MY LIFE
AND STILL NO ONE IS HERE TO HELP
DO THEY CARE AT ALL?
THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING
TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE
I DON’T EVEN HAVE A FAMILY TO SPEND IT WITH.
INSTEAD OF AN IPOD FOR CHRISTMAS
I WANT MY LIFE BACK!
I WANT HELP!
I WANT MY FAMILY BACK!
MY LIFE USED TO BE PERFECT AND COMPLETE
BUT NOW A DISTANT MEMORY
AND NOW JUST “USED TO BE’S.”
WHO KNEW ONE HURRICANE COULD TAKE AWAY SO MUCH?
oh we need to post it? cant i just print it and bring it in? and does it have to be a poem?
ReplyDelete-gabby y
i left my home
ReplyDeletethe hurricane is coming
headed for the dome
its better there than nothing.
they dont bring us food
i cant take a shower
cant describe my mood
are these my final hours?
after five days
the people are crying
my mind's in a daze
people's spirits are dying.
we're getting assistance
its too little too late
did they forget our existance
NOW they're getting things straight?
they start bussing me out
don't know where i'm headed
i'm having some doubts
this is what i dreaded.
im going back to my life in my city
dont know what's in store
what i find isn't so pretty
i yelled i cried and above all i swore
this isn't the New Orleans i knew from before!
my life is a wreck
my home is destroyed
i have a pain in my neck
i realize now im poor and unemployed.
where'd i go wrong
got nowhere to go
my family's gone
im tired you know.
along with that storm
my life came and left
my city transformed
Katrina, you're a theft !
a theft of countless homes
a theft of many lives
New Orleans changed forever
the day you arrived.
- MAGGIE TODARO
Katrina swept me off my feet
ReplyDeleteBy: Edina K.
Katrina swept me off my feet
Made me so weak
The water rising
People dying
Katrina swept me off my feet
Lost everything
Children crying
People asking for help
Katrina swept me off my feet
The heavy wind
Blowing my way
As a big heavy wave
Katrina swept me off my feet
Scared are the old,new,rich,poor
No more peace or joy
But no way out
Katrina swept me off my feet
No food or water
How can we take a shower
So helpless are they
Katrina swept me off my feet
My home is ruined
No place to work
How can I reagin my life
Katrina swept me off my feet
Why now
Why not later
But not now
Katrina swept my off my feet
I need help
We all need help
Please we're dying here
Katrina
Katrina
Katrina
My Memories
ReplyDeleteBy: Andrew Villa
I can still feel all of the tragical scars and bruises that were left inside of me after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans with it’s mighty force and destructive power. On October 30th, I got out of that death trap what the mayor called the Super Dome, with my five kids, gasping for fresh air, for we had not had any for several days. We were only able to breath in the toxic fumes made by everyone else. I actually wish that I didn’t leave that tree I was stuck in for two days to come to the Super Dome. We were happy to get some space, but we were still ferrous at Mayor Nagin for promising us safety in the Super Dome and then just leaving us there with no food, no water, or no nothing. I know that he tried his best to try and help us, but at that time, trying was just not good enough for us.
Once we got out, we expected to see gallons of clean water In the survivor’s mouths, but what we saw, was squat, we didn’t see nothing, just the poor, miserable faces of all of the survivors. While we were heading towards the closest bridge out of there, we saw three people walking away from the bridge looking confused and frightened and I asked them, “What’s the matter?” Then one of them answered, “We were trying to cross the bridge, then we saw two police men with shotguns, and they said to us [TURN BACK NOW], and then we just walked away.” A little while afterwards, I figured out that Governor Blanco had called a state of emergency in New Orleans. That is when I got outraged, I didn’t understand why she would call for a state of emergency to keep us inside the destroyed city when we could be getting help outside of the city. She said that she would try her best to rebuild the city with her “friend and partner” President Bush, but she didn’t do anything at all to help us.
After the first few days after the Hurricane, I felt as if New Orleans has went from peaceful little town with no fears, into a pool of filth, and misery, all of the survivors of New Orleans gone mad, stealing from every store that isn’t under water, not caring about the other people, leaving the dead bodies of either their loved ones or random people on the street, and when Governor Blanca witnessed all of this happening, all she was able to say was shoot the looters. I was so enraged with furry, that I was afraid to even speak to my kids because something inappropriate might come right from my mouth, it would probably have been a very gruesome swear. One other thing is that when white people were shooting the black people, and Governor Blanca saw that, she still said shoot the looters. She referred to us as looters, but white people as “people who steal food to survive”, her and the media. It was just surprising how racist this country was, and still is. What I witnessed was the law of survival, not a democracy. I saw dead bodies on every side walk, hanging from trees, I saw families cry, especially the children who lost their mothers, and no one, not the government, or even us, the survivors of New Orleans, even cared about picking up the bodies, we just let them rot away. I remember my children’s faces when they saw all this, they asked “Mommy, why are all of these dead people here?” I just answered, “I don’t know, and to tell you the truth, we could end up like that.”
As I was watching all of the innocent people being shot by the police force and the white people, I couldn’t believe that we were in America, I thought we were in a waste land of savages, I couldn’t imagine any government to abandon all of us like this, and to fail to protect us and our property. All of us thought that food and fresh water would of been hailing down from the sky by now, to save us all. But no, the government ordered the police to shoot us looters at sight, but not anyone who was stealing food for survival. My kids and I went into shock when we saw all of the damn cops shooting all of the black people that stole food, but let the white people off with a warning. I thought the world came to an end. At that time, I couldn’t believe that the mayor, the governor, and the president all failed to help us in a time of need, I didn’t want to rush things towards the kids, so I kept my anger all to myself. I wished that all of us stop killing each other for five minuets, to figure out a way to live until real help arrived, not some more troops and officers ready to shoot at sight.
There was only one human being that actually helped me before real help arrived, and that was my husband. We were all in the attic of our house during Hurricane Katrina, suffocating in temperatures around 120 degrees, with the sun boiling down on us, and the water coming up the stairs. My kids had tears in their eyes, as did I, but not Charles, he took action. Since none of us knew how to swim he took out our family canoe we had stored, he put us all in it, then he started to paddle us to a tree that has not sunken, from the outside. Once we all made it to the tree, I told him about how I saw him swallow some of the water, but he just told me not to worry. When the absolute devastating time of my life came, things had to get worse by Charles getting sick, and eventually passing away.
I covered the kid’s eyes when I had to sail him off into the water, I was worried that it might have been too emotional for them. I was crying tears of grief and sorrow, as all of the memories with Charles went down the stream of water with him. I was so angry, that I felt like joining the Iraq War myself, while stealing a nuclear bomb from the US Army, giving it to the Iraqis, and telling them to fire it at Bush. But, then I thought back to what Charles kept saying about revenge not being the answer. I wanted to go burry his body with the kids as soon as we found it, but we couldn’t even check our own house If only the levees were built like they were supposed to, all this might have been prevented. Also, if all of us were like my husband Charles, we would have been able to clean up the bodies, get everyone to shelter, and not kill each other. It was so disappointing to me why people would do this to each other, and why our government would do this to us.
Tried to E-Mail, too big.
Andrew Villa Period 3 931
Thanks to everyone that has posted already. This is powerful work.
ReplyDeleteYou are also bringing it in to class for peer response on Monday. You are posting drafts so that you may read each other's work and see what others are doing-if it is too big or you cannot post it, just bring it in on Monday. This piece can be written in any genre.
Hope everyone is enjoying the winter break!!! See you Monday!
Hurricane Katrina
ReplyDeleteImagine coming into New Orleans, Louisiana with every person happy and enjoying life without a care, kids playing and running around, Mardi Gras and jazz musicians playing all through town. Suddenly you see your sunny day ripped out of you with rain coming down so hard as if nature was making an orchestra full of danger. Water rushing everywhere getting bigger and bigger until it goes over the levees and they tumble down. The only thing you need to do is make it out as soon as possible, either dead or alive. Buildings, homes, stores, and neighborhoods falling apart, everything in sight destroyed. Bodies are starting to wash away as people step outside. People try to escape from the hurricane but there is no way out. A family is trying to escape together and they start swimming but the water is so powerful that they drift apart. Only two people out of the four members of the family make it and they try to stay side by side.
The next day as the sun came up you could see that everything got destroyed, everything was wrecked. It was as if something you loved so much and had for such a long time just disappeared before your eyes and was gone forever. As people started coming together they had to help others whose houses were also destroyed and get them to safety. Many people were sent on a cruise ship that was run by the local police. As they were walking to the ship they saw death on their own street and contamination from the water.
As the days went by, helicopters flew by but never stopped to help. People in Louisiana didn’t want to stay and waved red flags and signs saying “We need help!” but very little help came. As the water started receding, everyone was told to go to the Superdome and some were moved to an airport center. The survivors were happy to be alive but were sad because they lost everything, including their loved ones. They were crammed with thousands of others in the same place with little help. It had been days since the hurricane and people needed food, water, clothing, and better shelter and wanted to get out. Garbage and the smell of dead people was everywhere. A child was so frightened so his mother told him that everything would be okay as long as they stood together and never let go. Soon the door to the airplane center boomed like thunder. Everyone thought the hurricane was coming back but a soldier came in saying, “Attention everyone, we are here to evacuate you so you can all get out of here as soon as possible. Please, get out in an orderly fashion,” he said and blew his whistle. Everyone rushed out of the Superdome and onto the buses for freedom. The same child and parent were walking hand in hand when a man came and pushed the mother away from the son. “Mommy, mommy, where are you?” the child cried.
“Don’t worry, I’m coming!” the parent said as she dove into the crowd after her son. The child was alone just standing there until the people surrounded him. He had to keep up with the crowd to make it out safely. Everyone started leaving by bus or plane and was being sent to different states. The parent was sent to New York while the child went to Georgia. After searching for her son every hour of everyday, the mother found her son through an agency that helped victims of Katrina. The mother and son reunited in Georgia where the child was living with foster parents. They decided to stay in Georgia and build a new life together.
Sara Touzard
Period:3
It was formed on 8/23/05
ReplyDeleteIt came so abruptly, never
looked at it as a tradegdy.
It broke the levees and breached
the city.
It caused the water to submerge 80% of New Orleans, wouldn't have been so terrifying if FEMA came when in need.
It killed more than 1300
Damages adds up more than 81.2 billion.
The statistics can be breathe taking,
but if more care was given this horrible event wouldn't have been so scary.
It ended on 8/30/05
-Alex Bao period two
Please give some feedbacks!!
Hurriane:from a childs point of view
ReplyDeleteThis hurricane came
And lasted eight long days
I sit in this mega dome
Knowing its not my home
Waitin gto evacuate
But that always happens late
I dont know the last time I ate
This hurricane is gonna make me faint
Josephine Cardenia period 2
I have a typo.
ReplyDelete3rd stanza.
Its "Waiting"
Josephine
In the Blink of an Eye
ReplyDeleteBy Anastasia Ioannou Pd.3
New Orleans…
History,
Jazz,
Mardi Gras,
All swept away when Katrina came for a visit.
Everyone thought they would stick it out.
“If we survived Betsy, we can survive Katrina”
No one thought that the levees would break.
Everyone thought they were strong and done.
But everyone was wrong.
In the blink of an eye New Orleans was underwater.
Cars, homes, and families were floating,
Trying to stay up.
But some unfortunate people couldn’t stay up.
They went to the dome,
Looking for food and shelter.
It didn’t last long,
Before Katrina had to enter.
Mothers and children were torn apart.
Husbands and wives were torn apart.
Homes and history were torn apart.
Everything everyone had worked for was gone.
New Orleans was a happy place,
But once Katrina came in,
It was glum
And destroyed.
People waited for the government to step in,
Waited to FEMA,
Waited for someone.
Waiting
Waiting
Waiting
Finally Canadian officials came to help.
YES!
Canadian’s
But where was the United States government?
Where was the president?
Waiting and wondering
Waiting and wondering
Waiting and wondering
Eventually they came,
But were they much help?
…
It took them so long to arrive,
That they were barely any help.
All they did was ship people away.
Splitting families apart,
A momma in Texas
A daddy in California
A young one in New York.
Torn apart
Torn apart
Torn apart
Lost in this cruel world.
Thinking everyday would be their last.
Praying that their family and friends were okay.
Praying
Praying
Praying
Life had been carefree
Life had been fun
But once Katrina came in
It was all done.
nothing!
ReplyDeleteBY: Adrian Chisholm
No FOOD
No WATER
No HELP
What am I... nothing
No Family
No Life
No Home
Feel like... nothing
Not clean
Not happy
Not me
being treated like... nothing
wanna be... something
all i needed was a little help...
but i got... nothing
Poem- child wondering were his father went!
ReplyDeleteby: Isabela Janashvili
Were is my daddy?
its been 3 days
and still no sight
he went out
trying to find help
but never came back
mommy tells me
"child dont worrie"
but how could i not?
he wasnt on the roof
he wasnt in the house
he was no were in sight
he shouldnt be near the home
he should be here,
safe in the dome
were is my daddy?
why would katrina take him
without giving him back?
Diary
ReplyDeleteBy: Janet C.
August 28, 2005
The news on our TV told us to evacuate at once. Hurricane Katrina was headed our way. Mama and I started packing things that were most necessary, like water.
But, Grandma wouldn't leave. " I've been here for 64 years. This is my home. I don't want to be anywhere else," Grandma argued. What choice did we have?
August 29, 2005
I woke to the loud howling of the wind. Alan, my 8 year old brother, was up too. Trees outside were bending at a 40 degree angle. There was a sudden CRASH. A tree had fallen into our room and almost crushed us. I was shaken.
I looked out and noticed water everywhere and it was rising. That would mean the levees that were meant to protect New Orleans had broke.
The water forced us into the attic and out onto the roof. We were stuck on our rooftop and water had flooded our whole house. I cried, thinking about all my special possessions that I had lost.
It was later, when a rescue team finally came and helped us onto the boat. They directed us to the Convention Center and we were expecting support there. But, there was nothing. No food, no water, no help. NOTHING!
September 2, 2005
It had been 4 days already! And still no help! I'm getting really frustrated. It's really hot here and everyone is dehydrated. I saw two babies that died of dehydration. We trusted the government and yet, they left us behind. The stench in the bathrooms were so incredibly filthy. There were dead bodies everywhere.
Dad had to steal food, milk, and water from stores in order to keep us alive.
Devastation
ReplyDeleteBy: Andrew Villa
Boom Boom Boom
There goes
The Levees
The point where all of my dreams
Went down the drain.
This is where
I found out that my
government has abandon me
And let us all
Die
Of starvation
Dehydration
And sorrow.
Mayor Nagin Couldn't give me
the proper living conditions of man
And treated us all
Like a pack of
Uncivilized dogs.
Yet we were acting like
Uncivilized dogs
The entire time.
Governor Blanca trapped us all
In a dome
Of torture and despair
Her telling the police
To shoot the looters
Without a thought in the world.
Bush was also a
Bad leader to us all
As he let us suffer
In the boiling city
He couldn't even build
A good
Levee.
All of my family members
Scared and lonely
Hungry and thirsty
Suffering from all of
The loved ones we cared for.
No one
Came to help.
The Aftermath: An Excerpt
ReplyDeleteBy Avi S.
As I lay down on my Best Western Hotel bed, as I have for the past 2 months, I remember the good times before the storm took my town of New Orleans away. I can remember the day before the storm hit like it was yesterday. Having heard from my cousins in D.C. that night about the storm, I wasn't worried. I had seen other storms before and all I had to do was border up my house then go to the Rec Center with my dog and I would be ok. That was before I had known how bad it was going to be. That day I sat in the Rec Center Reading a book when i hear a loud crack. At that second everyone else in the Rec Center became silent and you could hear water like a waterfall rushing by the walls of the center. I realized the crack was the levee bracking and the water was the river. By the sound of it everything was underwater and I prayed that my house was ok. I started to get worried and I held my dog tight. With thousands of thoughts racing through my mind I started to cry silently. Next I knew it was morning and the water sound had stopped. I ran out past all of the people in the room and looked at the window. My jaw dropped. The entire city was under water....