End-of-the-Year Final Exam

Slice of Life

Context and Reflection

             The assignment that I have chosen is a "Slice of Life."  A "Slice of Life" is a piece of your life that you write about in very descriptive detail.    This "Slice of Life" is about how we had an unexpected fire alarm and how I dealt with it.  The learning that I am "showing off" is descriptive writing.  At the beginning of this year, my writing was very basic/elementary.  Now, I can show how I have improved by writing descriptively and using figurative language (similes, personification, metaphors, etc.).  Some changes that I made to this piece are including the five senses and changing some of my words so that they become a little bit more descriptive.  This makes this piece more interesting.  I chose this piece because I wanted to prove my skills of imagery.


The Piece

Snowy Emergency

             It was a snowy day.  Flakes of snow were swirling around outside.  I was in health class, kind of bored.  We were talking about our circulatory system when suddenly...

             A loud, blaring noise started sounding all over the school.  I jumped our of my seat in surprise.  Everyone was scurrying toward the doors in fright.  I followed them out, down the stairs and outside.

             When I stepped outside, a strong, snowy blast of wind swept over the school.  I looked down and saw two inches of snow on the ground.  Students were talking to their friends, trying to catch up with each other, and teachers were trying to gain silence in their classes.  Many students were wearing T-shirts.  I was wearing a sweater and sneakers, so I was shivering and cold.  My teeth were chattering as I stepped through the snow.  It was complete chaos.

             Unfortunately, the ground sloped steeply down towards a wide ditch.  I started losing control of my feet.  I sped towards the ditch, and, in an attempt to stop myself, I fell on all fours, the snow up to my elbows and knees.  My sweater and pants were completely soaked.  I struggled up, colder than ever.  Now, I just needed to find my class.

             All around me, students were shivering, as pale as polar bears, climbing the hill and around the school garden to the front of the school.  I finally located my class and struggled uphill to catch up.  Teachers were pointing classes up to the front of the school.  Everyone was outside, so it was a sort of traffic jam.  That's when I looked up and saw everyone heading towards BOCES.

             We finally made it to the sidewalk and started our journey to BOCES.  Students were clutching their friends in an attempt to get warmer.  A teacher was in the middle of the street, stopping cars to let us pass.

             We went down the sidewalk and through the front door of BOCES.  I sighed with relief.  I finally made it to the school, in what seemed like hours and hours.  I was warming up again, and I thought to myself, I hope this never happens again.


About the Author

           
             I'm Alice Hu, a seventh grader in Mr. Scott's class on the Fire Ants at DeWitt Middle School.  I feel like I've improved a lot over this year compared to last year.  Last year, my grammar and my writing skills were very basic.  The words that I used wasn't middle school language.  However, this year, I think I have improved my grammar and my writing skills.  I have learned lots of grammar, such as when to stop a sentence so that it doesn't become a run-on sentence.  I have also learned a lot of ways to describe a noun using figurative language.  I think that I have grown a lot as a writer this year.