Author’s Note: This is an essay about predicting where Jenna and her family would be in a couple years. The purpose is to predict what Jenna's life would be like in Three years.

Dear Dad,

I am so glad I finally got my Chevy Cavalier convertible. The Chevy with the sun roof just wasn’t working well. I love it here in Texas. The weathers Great, but I miss you, faith, and mother. It has been 3 whole years since I went on that trip with Mrs. Gladstone. 

Secondly, I am so proud of you. Mom says you are cutting back on Drinking, and went to Rehab. This is a huge step, and I am now glad to call you my father. Now you are here for me whenever I need help. I hope you continue to do what you are doing. This has changed how I feel about my family. I used to think that our family was never close. Now I know that I can go to you and mom with anything.  

Lastly, things are good here in Texas, I miss you, mom, and Faith. I am living the life here working at the rehab center. Keep up the good work Dad, keep it up for me and Faith so we can continue to have an amazing father.

                                                                                       Love,

                                       -Jenna

Everything Would Change

Authors Note: In this piece I explain what the cause and effect of the book “rules of the Road” is, and what would happen if the effect was different. The porpoise is to explain the Cause and Effect of nna’s story.

Thousands of people have things that they wish to tell someone, but they don’t. They keep things bundled up inside them. In the story, "Rules of the Road" by Joan Bauer, a teenage girl goes on a road trip across the country, learning rules of the road and rules of Life. In this essay I explain what the cause and effect of this story is. The cause is the main character; Jenna gets invited to go on a road trip. She really wants to, but her parents and friends think otherwise. The effect is that she did not listen to her parents, and she did go.

 First off, Jenna gets invited to travel across the country with her boss. She thinks it is a great idea, but her mom, dad, and Best friend highly disagree. "She's a bonfire Hansel and Gretel-eating witch! We're talking here, Jenna, about the ultimate summer from Hell!". This is what Jennas Best friend told Jenna about the Idea. You can clearly see that Jennas friend didn't want her to go travel with Jennas boss. You would think that this would force Jenna to think twice about taking the trip, but it didn't change her thoughts at all. She wanted to keep running away from her problems.  

Secondly, Jenna does follow her conscience. Many people try to convince her not to go, but she does. When she does this she just tries to run away from her problems. She wanted to get away from her dads horrible drinking problem. This story proves that you should not run away from your problems, and you should try to resolve it, so you get a better result. 

Lastly, what would happen if Jenna didn’t confront her Dad? Many things would be different if the effect wasn’t the same. Jennas Dad would continue to come home late every night, drunk. Her life would not be the same. If the effect was different, there would be no moral of the story. The moral is to not run away from your problems, and Jenna really did run away, but did confront her dad in the end. 

In conclusion, the cause of this story is Jenna not listening to her friends and family about going on a road trip, and Jenna not listening. The effect of this story is Jenna going on the road trip, and later confronting her dad about his drinking problem, and how he needs to get help. If the Effect was different, everything would. This book wouldn’t even have a moral. You should always confront people and talk about your problems, because it will almost always make you feel better.

I love my Dad

Authors Note: In this piece I predict about what might happen in the future. I think that Jennas Dad will get help and finally be a good father. 

I am so glad I finally got my Chevy Cavalier convertible. The Chevy with the sun roof just wasn’t working well. I love it here in Texas. The weathers Great, but I miss you, faith, and mother. It has been 3 whole years since I went on that trip with Mrs. Gladstone. 

Secondly, I am so proud of you. Mom says you are cutting back on Drinking, and went to Rehab. This is a huge step, and I am now glad to call you my father. Now you are here for me whenever I need help. I hope you continue to do what you are doing. This has changed how I feel about my family. I used to think that our family was never close. Now I know that I can go to you and mom with anything.  

Lastly, things are good here in Texas, I miss you, mom, and Faith. I am living the life here working at the rehab center. Keep up the good work Dad, keep it up for me and Faith so we can continue to have an amazing father.

Your always in my heart, 

           -Jenna

Dont hate

Authors note: A lot of times I hear people say that volleyball is such an easy and boring sport. In this essay, I explain how it’s not as easy and it is one of the most fun sports out there. 

Thwack! You hear the sound of a hand slapping against a volleyball that is 25 feet away from your face. In less than a second, that ball will come flying towards you at 60 miles per hour. You’re in the championship game at a tournament. The score is 23-24 and you are losing by one point. This second can determine the game. Will you be able to pass that ball up to your setter? Or will the ball strike the floor and will you lose for your team? The game of volleyball is a little harder than you might think. People think that volleyball is just an intense game of “don’t let the balloon touch the floor”, a game that we used to play as kids, but I am going to prove that this fun game is harder than it seems. 

First of all, everyone thinks the game of volleyball is so easy. Can you pass a ball to a foot wide target when is coming down at you at 60 miles per hour? Can you hold the responsibility to always get to a ball that is 40 feet away from you to set it to your breathtaking hitters? Can you jump above a 7 and a half foot tall net and hit a ball 60 miles per hour and keep it in control? No offense, but guys are normally the ones that think this sport is so easy.  They are the normally the ones that try to act tough and hit the ball fast, but out of bounds every time they try to hit it over the net. Also, don’t “talk the talk” before you “walk the walk”.

Secondly, people watch one volleyball game in 5^th grade of their school volleyball team. All they see is passing, missed serve, passing, and miss serve. It seems boring to play and watch. It seems so easy to people. They carry this with them and continue to think that this game is so easy and boring. I hope that these people see a high school game soon. They will realize that it is much more intense and advanced than that. 

In addition, volleyball might not involve a lot of running, but it does involve a lot more leg muscle than you think. You constantly have to be on your toes, bending your legs so it looks like you’re sitting on an invisible chair, you do this in defense, or passing. If you are a blocker, you also need to do something that some people call “coiling”, coiling is where you bend your legs so you are ready to jump up and block the ball. These are enormous reasons why volleyball is more intense than not letting a balloon touch the ground. 

In conclusion, the game of volleyball is a lot more extreme than most people think. They need to watch a game that is more advanced than elementary school to start talking about how trouble-free it is. This is why volleyball is actually a very magnificent, enjoyable game that is intense and also has a lot of difficulties in it.

The Life Changing Trip

Authors note: I wrote this piece explaining what the conflict of the story Rules of the road is and what would happen if the main event never occurred.

In the book Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer, a teenage girl is having trouble at home with her dad being an alcoholic. She takes a road trip and learns rules of the road, and rules about life. The climax of this story is Jenna traveling across the country to get a break from her family and learn more about life and the road. 

First off, I believe Jennas dad caused her to travel with her boss across the states. An end result in this trip she took is that she learns how to deal with her dad, and confront him about his problem. I also believe Jenna took this trip because the one thing she really likes is selling shoes and making people happy. If this is one of the only things Jenna has in her life, she would be dumb to pass this opportunity up. Also, Jenna is sixteen years old, which means she must be getting her driving license soon. Being able to take someone for a huge road trip across the country would make her stronger in her driving skills. 

In conclusion, this major event of Jenna traveling across the country has brought this story together. If this even didn’t happen, Jennas life would be so much different. Her dad would still come home drunk every night, and her mom would continue not caring about Jenna or her sister. Nothing would be the same, Jennas life would continue to be confusing. The event of Jenna going on a road trip with her boss is the climax in the story, and if it didn’t happen, then everything would change.

My Hero!

Authors note: I picked a quote that I liked from the book, "Rules of the Road". The quote is: "He got used to seeing all kinds of problems, turn around and that gave him courage". In this essay I explain what this quote means and my reaction to it. 

In the book "Rules of the Road" by Joan Bauer, a teenage girl travels across the country to look at shoe store with her boss. On the way she meets some interesting, very warm hearted people, and learns about rules of the road and rules of life.

 "He got used to seeing all kinds of problems, turn around and that gave him courage" this Is a quote that was said by Mrs. Gladstone. This is what Mrs. Gladstone said to Jenna about a man named Harry  A strong worker who has seen people who are struggling through life. This quote is saying that Harry would see one struggling person and helped them, this made him want to help the next one. This was like a domino effect, he was always helping people. I think this is a good quote because it is explaining how much of a good man Harry is. He is a good example for everyone today.  

Secondly, this quote is explaining that Harry is such a strong man, and has such a strong heart. Whenever I see a bunch of problems I run away from them, but Harry does the opposite. This is saying so much. Many other people would run away as well. Our world would be very different if there were more people like Harry in the world.  

In Conclusion, this quote is explaining how Harry is a man that wont let anything stop him, it will actually make him do the opposite, make him keep going. He is a great person and the world would be a better place if there were more people like him in the world.

Just be a Queen

     Jenna is 5 foot. 11 inches tall, has brown eyes, and red hair. You can tell that she might stand out from the crowd a little but. She is a unique person, but she believes that she is a weird person. She feels like she is the odd one out. She is struggling to find something to keep her busy because her dad is an alcoholic. Her mother doesn’t even care about her. Everything is going horrible, until her boss asks her if she wanted to go on a road trip with her. 

     Throughout the book Jenna realizes that she does have friends and that her parents might not be the most supportive, but she has other people who care about her. Throughout the book she gets more confident in herself, and how to drive. This is a great life experience for her, it might carry with her for the rest of her life, so she acts different when she arrives home. I think she will be a more confident person at home, school and also in work. 

     Throughout the book Jenna realizes a little more on how she is a strong person and learns more about rules of life and rules of the road.