Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Christmas Beagle

What really matters? The world today has been warped and molded based on money and fear. What puts a price on something? The price tag or a criticism from someone you know? For some, the brand handbag they carry is more important to them than relationships they have. Relationships they have are influenced by the handbag. What is truly important?


For years I had been begging my parents for a Beagle. Now, finally, we are going to pick up my puppy. We're gone insane trying to find the perfect name for our little Beagle. As a family, we decide on Buster. I am nine years old and practically bouncing in my seat. It's mid-November and chilly. We pull into the driveway of the breeder that we're buying Buster from. He comes out of the barn with a little, wrinkly puppy in his arms. He hands Buster over to me. He's so warm and soft. Buster looks up and me and licks my chin. To keep him warm, I hold him close to me on the car ride home. First, we stop at my little cousins house. She sees Buster and screams in happiness. When my aunt tells her we have to leave, she says, "No, I want to stay and play with Buther." We all laugh and tear my dog away from her; she was not happy.

We get home to show him around. Unfortunately, Buster is still not house trained. Let's just say we use a lot of paper towels and newspaper. Over the next few years, Buster is non-stop. He's more annoying than ever imaginable. Puppy classes failed miserably. His first veterinarian visit was really ugly. At several points, my dad honestly wanted to send him away. But we kept him anyway. Now, Buster behaves 95% of the time, is sweet, and very protective.

I get home from school, tired and impatient. My dad opens the crate and he comes out wriggling and smiling like it's the best day of his life. Buster whines and jumps up on me. He leans against my legs, waiting for me to scratch his back. I find his "sweet spot" and his leg starts to kick uncontrollably. My welcome home greeting is the best and always puts a smile on my face. Before homework, I sit on the couch to watch some t.v. From around the corner, I see his little face. When he sees that I've spotted him, he jumps up on my lap. For a Beagle, he is pretty big. Buster is thirty pounds of pure muscle. I lose feeling in my legs pretty quickly, but it doesn't even faze him.

Whenever I'm having a bad day, Buster is always there. In a way he's better than friends because he won't say a word but still be caring. I curl up next to him, stroking his fur. As my tears fall, he licks them away. He'll stay that way forever, no matter what. After I've recovered from my meltdown, we go into the kitchen and I give him treat. After he inhales it, he trots over to the door, indicating he wants to go outside. I put on his leash and we go in the backyard to play. We play fetch for a little while before we freeze. When we come in, we both get on the couch to warm up. Buster is the best dog in the world. Although my family did pay quite a price to get him, he is priceless to me.

It's Christmas Eve and my mom and I are making cookies to leave out for Santa. Although I am a little too old for that, we still like to keep our Christmas Eve routine. Tonight is always really fun and exciting. It's about five o'clock and my family is getting dressed up for church. Like most churches, mine holds a special Christmas Eve service. We get to church and are handed a candle, the usual welcome. I greet several of my friends and compliment their outfits. We walk into the dark great room as Pastor Jeff begins to speak. The candles are lit and hymns are sung. When the service is over, we blow out the candles and fake snow blows from a machine. I run to find my gifts for my friends and they do the same. When we get home, I make myself some hot chocolate and get into my pajamas. I glance out the window, praying for snow. At last it catches my eye; several tiny crystals dancing their way down to the ground. I smile and enjoy this time of peaceful bliss. Christmas is just around the corner.

I lazily roll out of bed after a night of no sleep. Half unconscious, I make my way downstairs following the smell of coffee and the sound of my mom and grandma talking. I look in the den to see our little tree and all the presents underneath. I'm immediately greeted by the way-too-excited Buster. Once I say hello to my family, we go into the den to open our stockings. When we've finished, my mom and dad make our traditional Christmas morning breakfast, potato pancakes and homemade applesauce. We sit on the couch, eating our breakfast to watch the parade. It takes a while to finish up everything, but when we do we go back into the den to open the rest of the presents. A few hours later, my aunt, uncle, and cousin come over for dessert and more presents. I play some songs on the piano while everyone sings before they go home. At the end of the day, I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Christmas day is always a very special time for me that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Although the things I value are very different; when I think about it, both are fairly similar. When I'm alone with Buster, I have a sense of peace and relaxation. I feel as if nothing can go wrong, even if they are. I feel the same way about Christmas with my family. On that one day, I don't think about my troubles; I leave them all behind me. Christmas is a time of joy with the people I love, and Buster is included. Even though, on Christmas day, he's a bit of a spaz. The things I value most bring joy and love to people. Maybe that's why I cherish them so much. They show me things I otherwise wouldn't know. Whether I'm enjoying the parade with my family or sitting with Buster (or both!) I know that I wouldn't be me without these things.

10 comments:

  1. I. Molly seems to be saying that materialistic items are taking the place of our relationships. Or they greatly influence our relationships. She is saying that she values Christmas time and her beagle, Buster.

    II. I thought that Buster was described very well. I thought you described him very well. I also liked how you showed everything that Buster does and how he acts. You also showed how much you really do value him. " My dad opens the crate and he comes out wriggling and smiling like it's the best day of his life."

    III. I thought you organized your essay very well. I liked how you divided up the paragraphs and which order you put the items in. I also thought you had wonderful word choice.

    IV. Perhaps you could work on your introduction a little more but overall I think your essay is very well written and the length is great.

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  2. what the author seems to say about value is that just because something is expensive doesn't mean that it is valuable. the author values her family, including her dog buster, because they give her happiness. they bring love and joy, and showed her things that she wouldn't.
    i found the author's dog buster is most vivid to me. "Unfortunately, Buster is still not house trained. Let's just say we use a lot of paper towels and newspaper." i thought this was well written because it doesn't straight out tell you that Buster makes a lot of "mess" but implies it. i thought that was interesting.
    i think the overall strength of the essay is its word choice. it doesn't just say something, but shows the reader it. it also implies things which makes the essay fun and interesting. for example, the author implies that her dog buster makes messes by saying "Let's just say we use a lot of paper towels and newspaper".
    i think the author should revise a little more carefully because there are a few grammar mistakes such as "Tonight is always really fun" it doesn't really make sense and it should also be in the past tense because the author is talking about past her past Christmases.

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  3. the author seems to be saying about what is valuable to her is that no matter where she is those two things are valuable to her. they make molly, molly. without those things she would be lost, confused,and not the molly we know today. Molly values her dog, buster the beagle, and Christmas with her family.

    i think out of the two she described vividly her dog, buster the beagle.i just feel she wrote more description and decribed the moment better. i also felt that it was longer. the best part i think is " Buster is the best dog in the world. Although my family did pay quite a price to get him, he is priceless to me."
    to be continued...

    going instead of gone
    We get home to show him around.

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  4. continued...
    i think molly's strenghts as an author is description and word choice. she puts you in the seen. like "It's mid-November and chilly. We pull into the driveway of the breeder that we're buying Buster from. He comes out of the barn with a little, wrinkly puppy in his arms."

    some things i would change in this story is putting gone instead of gone or we've instead of we're "We're gone insane trying to find the perfect name for our little Beagle." and " We get home to show him around." that doesn't make sence to me.

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  5. 1. The author seems to be saying that relationships with people (or pets) are priceless. It really doesn't matter what the price of the object is for the author, its her relationship to it. Her relationship with buster is not because of his price, it's that he's her friend.

    2. I think that the part where she gets buster is most vividly described. A picture is placed in the reader's head of a small beagle jumping wall to wall. I also like how the author describes buster doing his business in the house because he is not potty trained.

    3. The author's overall strength in writing the essay is the description. The author puts her heart into this essay when describing the things she loves. This is shown in both things she values and is shown in her deep description in both situations. That is the author's overall strength.

    4. I think that the author could maybe use more attention grabbing vocabulary. This would attach the reader to the story more than they already have. This would also liven both situations, with Buster and Christmas. Great essay Molly ^^ (Buster is pretty annoying)

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  6. I think that the author seems to be saying that she values both items with a price tag and priceless moments and relationships. She also seems to be saying that although two things may seem completely different to one person, they could be similar to another. That people often choose the things they value based on how those things make them feel. Therefore, those things, although different on the outside, are often similar to that person.

    I liked the author's description of going to get her dog. You can tell how excited she is to finally be getting her dog. It's also something anyone with a pet can relate to because children are always excited to finally get a pet. I also like her description of her Christmas morning.It is also something that we can all relate to. We all know hos it feels to get up, half asleep, on Christmas morning. She describes it very well and it makes it nice to read.

    One of the essay's overall strengths is the introduction. It is worded very well and questions values in a thought provoking manner. I thought it was extremely well written and it was a great way to start and essay.

    One suggestion that I would have for the author would be to add a little more dramatic in some descriptions. Although the descriptions are very good, I thought she could've used a little more over the top description, just for effect =]. Overall, I really enjoyed this essay.

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  7. The author seems to be questioning what really puts a price on something. She says that the items we have are influencing our relationships. She values her dog, Buster, and Christmas time.

    I think you described Buster very well. There is a lot of detail that you added. I like how you said, "I find his "sweet spot" and his leg starts to kick uncontrollably. My welcome home greeting is the best and always puts a smile on my face." It shows how well you know him and how if he wasn't there when you got home, there would be something missing.

    One of the essay's overall strengths is the discription. There is a lot of description throughout the entire essay. Both values are described very well showing that it's hard to favor one over the other.

    One suggestion that I have for the author is to focas on only one or two things about Buster. Currently, the author talks about getting the dog, getting home with the dog, trying to train the dog and more. The author could shorten this section of the essay and add more detail to it.

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  9. I think that the other is saying that she values both priced and priceless items, but people are too caught up with priced items. She says that priced items are affecting our relationships and controlling them. She values her dog and Christmas.

    I think that she described getting Buster and what he is like well. "In a way he's better than friends because he won't say a word but still be caring. I curl up next to him, stroking his fur. As my tears fall, he licks them away. He'll stay that way forever, no matter what." I really liked that part of the essay because it shows how much Buster means to you and it makes a good point.

    I think that the strength of this essay is the descriptions and the introduction. The intro makes really good points about how much priced items control our lives. You can also imagine everything that's going on in the essay, so the description was really good.

    I didn't really find anything wrong with this essay. The part about Buster was a little choppy when it went from getting him to how he acts now. It wasn't a major problem, it was a great essay.

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  10. I. In this essay, Molly seems to be saying that priced items are taking over our lifestyle and affecting it drastically. Things like expensive handbags are taking over conversations and starting useless relationships where people only interact with that person for the item. She seems to also be saying that society is losing touch with moments, and becoming obsessive over expensive items.
    II. I feel like that the dog portion of your essay (Buster) was described much more than any other. I especially liked the part where Molly wrote; "I find his "sweet spot" and his leg starts to kick uncontrollably." I could relate to this as my dog does the same thing. I liked the way it was written, like I could picture myself getting the puppy, while I was merely reading the essay.
    III. Overall, I believe Molly's essay had a good organization and flow. From the beginning of the description of getting Buster to the end of Christmas day I liked how it was written. I felt that the flow throughout the essay was very well written.
    IV. In this essay, I found a few small problems. I only, throughout the whole essay, saw that there was less vocabulary than I saw fit. Consider next time, placing more vocabulary in places where you see that there is little to no vocabulary. It will greatly increase your essay skills and make them more appealing to readers.

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