Speechless

This is a project that was required of us in first semester, I hope you can "hear' my voice in this piece of work.

"Speechless" Day 1 There once was an ever-smiling young man who loved Jamba Juice and just found out that his mouth would not be able to function because of a very fatal virus called Toomuchsmiling-osis. The doctor said it was not curable and that he was one of 5 people in the whole world with it at the time. When he found out he would only have a week to talk, eat, drink, sing, smile, and overall, live, he was speechless (not yet). The minute he got the bad news from his doctor after a normal physical, he started to list all the things he would do before his time was up. First, he told all his family and friends. They were all terrified at the thought of losing their beloved family member, friend, at such a young age. All they could do is spend as much time as they could with him and comfort him in this hard time. But that wasn't how he wanted his last week to go, no. He wanted all the people in his life to smiling when he's gone and to enjoy the good times and forget about all the negative things in life. He wanted them to take his example and apply it to their life, but to a certain extent. There is a time for smiling and laughter, and there is a time to get serious/concentrate. Towards the end of the day, he went and bought an Orange Dream Machine. One day down, six more to go.

Day 2 The next day, he decided to play some tennis with some friends one last time. Tennis was a hobby of his and it relaxed him. It also gave him a chance to be patient with himself because tennis is a mental sport that requires a lot of mental energy as well as physical energy. While he was going "A.O." on them, he felt a sharp pain in his jaw. "Is this it? Is this the part where I die and go to heaven?" he thought. His friends were scared to death that he was going to die right then and there, but it turned out that he chipped a tooth and it scraped his gum. Phew, that was a close one. After he kicked his friends' buttocks in tennis, he went home and his family took him out to dinner to Kuru Kuru Sushi. Sushi was his favorite food and that was his favorite sushi restaurant. That night, they talked about all the good times they shared and laughed the whole night. He didn't want it to end, but he could still pass on knowing that his loved ones will not forget about him easily. With that note, he went to Jamba Juice and bought a Strawberry's Wild. Two days down, five more to go.

Day 3 At this point, he didn't really panic about the whole situation at hand. He was just relaxing and taking in all the beauty around him and that he will be in a better place after the week was over. On that day, he wanted to relax and be lazy. That's exactly what he did. He called it his Couch Potato Day. Now that day was very slow, since he didn't do much, besides get a Groovy Guava. Three days down, four more to go.

Day 4 This was the middle of the week, the fine line that separates the beginning and end of his last week of life. When he dawned on the fact that it was the middle of the week, he thought of music, one of his favorite hobbies. His logic was, that, when you're in the middle of something, you just got to have music. Say for example you were in the middle of doing homework, you just need that extra enjoyment and that's where music comes into play. At least by now, you must be able to figure out why he is always smiling and laughing all the time. So the majority of the day, he sang and danced to his music on his iPod at home while his family was working and his sister was at college. This, in fact, seems like a pointless and dumb thing to do, plus, it wastes time, but that was what he wanted to do and his peers accepted that. However, later on in the day, something very strange happened. His doctor came knocking at his house and told him that his condition at present will only allow him one more day. 9:00pm the next day to be exact. At that moment, his stomach dropped into a bottomless pit and his face did NOT have a smile in sight. Since he thought he have a few more days, he would be fine but with news like this, he felt a little uncomfortable. A half hour passed and he hadn't said a word. During the next half hour, he just thought about how he wanted to leave this world and how he wanted to see his loved ones with smiles instead of tears. He went and got a Banana Berry then took his last sleep until the next day where he will never get up.

Day 5 (The Last Day) The next day, he woke up, not saying much. Until he had his breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, and rice, he started to feel like his normal self. He told his parents that he wanted to go to the movies with his friends and his parents told him not to but agreed after realizing their son's situation. So his friends and himself went and saw I Am Legend. That movie was pretty scary, but he was not penetrated by their fiendish tactics. His friends were very scared, of course and he had to make them laugh and forget about the whole movie. They all went to Jamba Juice after the movie and he ordered a Citrus Squeeze, his favorite flavor but with an Immunity Boost. They all were pretty sad when he had to go home but he reminded them that they should not worry, but rather use him as an example and take the time to enjoy every part of life and, smile. He said good-bye to his family and went in his bed at 8:45pm and decided to sleep earlier so he wouldn't have to endure the pain that would happen in 15 minutes. So he went to sleep… then he woke up the very next day! He thought he was in Heaven but he was in his room, alive. He wondered what happened to him and woke up his parents. They were so shocked that they though he was a thief trying to steal their possessions. After a few minutes of all that shock, he demanded his parents to take him to the hospital and talk to the doctor. About a half hour later, he met with the doctor who was in awe that he was still alive when he wasn't supposed to be. The doctor took blood samples and found something peculiar. Something was there that wasn't before. It was a substance that was immune to the virus and had practically killed it off. And that was when it hit him. He told the doctor about the Jamba Juice with the immunity boost in it and the doctor was thinking that he was nuts. Two hours later, after the doctor did tests of the immunity boost at Jamba Juice, he confirmed it, that indeed cured my disease and I was free to live my life smiling and with all my loved ones. And so, Colby Yamamoto smiled. :D

Process Reflection Questions: 2. I think the elements of quality that are present in this piece of work are voice, a lot of peer/self editing, and depth. I chose those three elements because while doing this project last semester, I first had a story which was about my life as a elementary school student, but it wasn't how I wanted it to be and so I changed the whole story the day before it was due. The whole thing took a while, but i was happier on how it came out and I just let the words flow rather than just thinking of something professional and well-thought out. By not thinking about grammar and spelling in the beginning, I was able to put my full voice in there and add a lot of depth to my writing. I acheived all this by writing, first, then taking the time to make sure everything is up to par after the writing is done. These elements add to the effectiveness of the work by putting a final "coating" to the finished product. By that, I mean that it makes sure that what is done is done and the best that it can be.

3. This was a final project for last semester with Mrs. Dare. It was just a story that incorperated all the themes we learned that semester like voice, grammar structures, etc. I wanted to create something funny, yet it tells a story because that's how my life is. I am mostly a happy person but yet i have moments in my life that are serious and meaningful. The steps i took was first brainstorm, then i went on to the first, second, third, and final draft. However, like i said in the previous question, it didn't turn out the way i hoped so i redid the whole thing the night before it was due and it turned out better than the first one and i enjoyed it a lot more. Even though it took more work in one night, the finished product was more than expected, in my opinion.