Test Prep--> Narrative Piece of Writing #1

      I recently finished the book, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, and fell in love with it. The main character, Macy, is a teenager who experienced the perfect childhood. Her life was perfect until her father passed away. That's when she decided to isolate herself from anything that reminded her of the life she lived when her father was around. Everybody and everything but Jason. Jason is her perfect boyfriend who puts his academic goals first and Macy second. However, it's the summer before 12th grade and Jason chose to spend it at Brain Camp and keep in contact with Macy by e-mail. Macy ended her first e-mail with the words "I love you" and in Jason's reply he told her things were over. Macy then meets the chaotic Wish crew and Wes and her whole perspective of life changes. I think that meeting these people are what change her and her summer.

      To begin with, the way Macy saw life was dreadful and not fun at all until the Wish crew came along. The first thing they did was give Macy her job and then things took off from there. For example, one of the people in the catering business was Kristy,a fashion-obsessed young woman, who every night after work goes to some sort of party, hoping she will meet a guy there. Every night Kristy invites Macy out but Macy politely declines until one day she decides to live life a little and accepts. Kristy takes her back to her apartment and dresses her up. Macy was wearing clothing she was not used to and uncomfortable in. This was way out of what Macy normal style. She usually wore jeans and a short sleeve shirt but that night she was wearing a tank top and a short skirt with nurse shoes. I don't know what made Macy change her mind about going out but I'm glad she did. It gave the story a little bit more edge especially since Macy would usually spend her nights studying SAT words. Soon Macy was accepting every single offer from Kristy and the crew. This was causing her to come home later than usual and much happier. I think that meeting these people was exactly what she needed especially for a summer like the one she was going through.

      Secondly, Wes is another reason Macy's point of view of life changed drastically. Wes also worked for the Wish crew and he was the bartender of the party and the one who usually fixed things. The first time they met was when Macy's mom was having a Real Estate party and hired the Wish crew as the caterers of the party. Macy was sent to get more fliers in the garage when Wes' brother Bert came out from behind her and screamed, "Gotcha!" Macy's fliers flew all over the place, Bert realizing he had made a mistake scurried to pick up the fliers. He then explained that the "gotcha" was meant for Wes and not her. Wes then also apologizes but Macy didn't hear a thing because she was astounded by Wes' beauty. After that night Delia, the manager of the Wish crew, offered Macy a job and she took the job. Also, she got to know Wes through the game of Truth. They would ask each other the most deepest questions and would answer it truthfully. Soon they fell in love but they were both in complicated relationships at the moment. It wasn't until Wes ended things with his girlfriend that Macy knew Wes was the guy. I thought that this book was amazing and when they introduced the character of Wes it became even more amazing. I would love a guy like that. Anyways, Wes made a huge impact on Macy's life changing summer.

      In conclusion, the reason Macy changed was because of the people she surrounded herself with. It's true that the people you surround yourself with have an impact in your personality and can change you too. That's what happened to Macy and that's what happens to many people around the world too. Your friends and the people around you make you see things different ways and they slowly shape the person you turn out to be when you grow up.  
             

Test Prep --> #1 Poetry and/ or Song Lyrics

"What Makes You Beautiful" One Direction

You're insecure,

Don't know what for,

You're turning heads when you walk through the door,

Don't need make-up,

To cover up,

Being the way that you are is enough,

Everyone else in the room can see it,

Everyone else but you,

Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,

If only you saw what I can see,

You'll understand why I want you so desperately,

Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,

Oh oh,

That's what makes you beautiful

So c-come on,

You got it wrong,

To prove I'm right,

I put it in a song,

I don't know why,

You're being shy,

And turn away when I look into your eye eye eyes,

Everyone else in the room can see it,

Everyone else but you,

Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,

If only you saw what I can see,

You'll understand why I want you so desperately,

Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,

Oh oh,

That's what makes you beautiful

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na,

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na [x2]

Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,

Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful (Oh)

If only you saw what I can see,

You'll understand why I want you so desperately (Desperately),

Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,

You don't know,

Oh oh,

You don't know you're beautiful,Oh oh (x2)

That's what makes you beautiful

      One Direction is a British-Irish boy band that has taken over music and stolen most of Justin Bieber's fans.

Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles all auditioned independently for the

"X Factor UK" in 2010 and got put into a group by Simon Cowell. Over the course of two years their music has infected many people around the world, they have published two books, sold out many concerts, and have released an album. I will admit that I have Direction-Infection and that I am  true directioner. The song,"What Makes You Beautiful", is the most popular song on their recently released album. Most of the songs on the album are about girls, relationships, and love. However, this song stands out because the message that's trying to be delivered is that everybody is beautiful.

    
      To begin with, in the first verse it mentions this girl's insecurities and what she considers to be her flaws which are an example of reasons girls don't feel beautiful. Girls are always finding their flaws and stressing out about them instead of showing off what they love about themselves. In the first verse they say:                

"You're insecure,

Don't know what for,

You're turning heads when you walk through the door,

Don't need make-up,

To cover up,

Being the way that you are is enough,"

In the first two lines they are telling this girl that she shouldn't be insecure and if she is that they don't know why because to their eyes she is flawless. In lines four through six they are talking about how this girl doesn't need make-up and should accept who she is not try to cover up her flaws with make-up. The beat that they also start off with a beat that would make anyone stop what they are doing and listen to them. In the music video too. They are at the beach and Liam Payne starts off the song looking into the camera singing very persuasively. It's like he is talking to every single person watching the music video or listening to the song that they are all beautiful.   

       Next, the chorus of the song mentions various times in different ways that everybody is beautiful. The chorus repeats many times times throughout a song. The effect that the chorus has on a song and especially this song is tremendous. Especially the way that the beat changes gives it the catchy but not corny effect to the song. For example, the lyrics to the chorus are: 

Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

This entire verse is talking about how this special girl makes them feel and how beautiful she is. The first line talk about how just one glimpse of her can put a smile on their faces. The words "light up my world" are comparing this girl to the sun and saying that she is now their sun. Then they start singing about how when she flips her hair they get butterflies in their stomachs. Its saying that when she does things, even the littlest things, get them nervous in a good way. Then it ends the verse referring back to her insecurities by noticing how this girl looks at the ground when she smiles. This shows insecurity because people only do that when they hate their smile or think their laugh is discordant. One Direction created and amazing chorus to go along with the song and the theme; everybody is beautiful.

       All in all, One Direction's song is a very inspirational song and it's one of those songs a person puts on replay when they need a bolster in self esteem. Personally, I think that this song is amazing and is currently my favorite song along with the rest of their album. Truth is this happens in life everyday to somebody in the world. They find what they don't like about themselves and torment themselves until a point where you just need to be reminded that they are beautiful. Everybody is beautifully whether it is internally or externally.