Sir Walter Scott was born August 15th, 1771, in Edinbourgh. Polio left his right leg lame but he grew into a six foot, 200lb. man. He worked for his father in 1786, and in 1792 was called to the bar. In 1790 he was appointed deputy sheriff and in 1797 he married Charlotte Charpenter. In 1802-1803 Scott’s first piece of poetic work was, Minstrelsy of The Scottish Border. He rose into fame with his poetics and wrote, The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1805. This was followed by Marmion in 1808, The Lady in the Lake in 1810, and Rokeby in 1813. His last major poem was The Lord of the Isles in 1815. Scott was appointed to clerk of the Court Session in Edinbourgh, to increase income, he decided to start a printing and publishing company, ahich crashed. Scoot had to pay of the debts with all of the money he got from his poem money. Scott also published several novels in his life time which include Guy Mannering in 1815, Tales of my Landlord in 1816, and Rob Roy in 1817. The Heart of Midlothian appeared in 1818, followed by Bride of Lammermoor in 1819. Scott was appointed a baronet in 1820, and published, The Life of Napolean. His wife died of a stroke in 1826 and he himself had a stroke, but died of natural causes on September 21, 1832. Information was retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/walter_scott/ Locnivar by Sir Walter Scott Lochinvar Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide Border his steed was the best; And save his good broadsword he weapons had none. He rode all unarmed and he rode all alone. So faithful in love and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. He stayed not for brake and he stopped not for stone, He swam the Eske river where ford there was none, But ere he alighted at Netherby gate The bride had consented, the gallant came late: For a laggard in love and a dastard in war Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall, Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all: Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword, For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word, ‘Oh! come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?’ ‘I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied; Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide And now am I come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.’ The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up, He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup, She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh, With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye. He took her soft hand ere her mother could bar, ‘Now tread we a measure!’ said young Lochinvar My Native Land by Sir Walter Scott Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd From wandering on a foreign strand! If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no Minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung. After Apple Picking by Robert Frost The poem Lochnivar was a bout a knight named Lochnivar. He rode with the best horse in all the land, but without a weapon, because he believed in peace. He chose to marry this girl in the city of Lochnivar and proposed to her in this crowded room. He could’ve had anyone else far more beautiful, but he chose her and no one had any objections. They all toasted to them and they were wed. The Poem My native land was Sir Walter Scott talking about his native land. He is saying that he will necer abandon his native land, and if he or any other man abandoned their native land, their soul would be dead. He is saying no matter how hot a girl was, or how much money he could make, he would never turn his back on his native land. Author: Robert Frost My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree Toward heaven still. And there's a barrel that I didn't fill Beside it, and there may be two or three Apples I didn't pick upon some bough. But I am done with apple-picking now. Essence of winter sleep is on the night, The scent of apples; I am drowsing off. I cannot shake the shimmer from my sight I got from looking through a pane of glass I skimmed this morning from the water-trough, And held against the world of hoary grass. It melted, and I let it fall and break. But I was well Upon my way to sleep before it fell, And I could tell What form my dreaming was about to take. Analysis The poem Lochnivar was a bout a knight named Lochnivar. He rode with the best horse in all the land, but without a weapon, because he believed in peace. He chose to marry this girl in the city of Lochnivar and proposed to her in this crowded room. He could’ve had anyone else far more beautiful, but he chose her and no one had any objections. They all toasted to them and they were wed. The Poem My native land was Sir Walter Scott talking about his native land. He is saying that he will necer abandon his native land, and if he or any other man abandoned their native land, their soul would be dead. He is saying no matter how hot a girl was, or how much money he could make, he would never turn his back on his native land. In the poems Lochinvar and My Native land there were examples of repitition and assonance The poem After Apple Picking was about a guy, assumingly Robert Frost, apple Picking. He is inside and has ladder against the apple tree, and there are two or three apple barrels that are not filled. But he doedn't care because he is relaxed and done with apple picking for the day. He feels winter coming on and and falls asleep, knowing he is going to dream about apples. Fiction Author: Stephen King Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. He and his brother were raised with his mother when they were separated from their father. He attended the grammar school in Durham, and then went to Lisbon high school. He graduated from the University of Maine, Orono, with a B.A. in English, which qualified him for teaching. After graduation, a review board found him 4-f on the grounds of high blood pressure, limited eyesight, punctured eardrums, and flat feet. He married in 1971 to Tabitha Spruce and could not find work as a teacher. Together the couple had three children, Naomi, Joe, and Owen, and the couple became laborers and King occasionally sold his short stories for a boost. His first professional sale was, The Glass Floor, to Starting Mystery Stories in 1967. He began teaching in 1971 and sold his first book, Carrie, in 1973. He learned that all the money he would make, would allow him to retire from teaching and write full-time. His first book Carrie was published in the spring of 1974, and in the fall, he left to live in Boulder, Colorado. He returned to main in 1975 but not before writing, The Shining, which took place in Colorado. He purchased another House in the Lakes Region of Maine and wrote, The Stand, and, The Dead Zone. In 1977 the Kings spent 3 months of a year long stay in England, then moving around the country, found a permanent home in Bangor, in the year 1980, while keeping a summer in Center Lovell. This information was obtained from StephenKing.com Fiction Piece: An Excerpt from Cujo Cujo slept. He lay on the verge of grass by the porch, his mangled snout on his fore-paws. His dreams were confused, lunatic things. It was dusk, and the sky was dark with wheeling, red-eyed bats. He leaped at them again and again, and each time he leaped he brought one down, teeth clamped on a leathery, twitching wing. But the bats kept biting his tender face with their sharp little rat-teeth. That was where the pain came from. That was where all the hurt came from. But he would kill them all. He would-- Personal Essay: Brandon Hughes Brandon Hughes was born on August 8, 1990, in Ascunsion, Paraguay. He was adopted at about a year and a half years old by Kate and Mike Hughes. He was not allowed to be taken out of Paraguay, so his soon to be parents had to stay a while to get him to be a United States citizen. He arrived in Hilton Head, South Carolina and lived in Shipyard Plantation. Not long after that, his sister Charlie Hughes was adopted and they were both living in the same house. Brandon was 4 when he moved to Bluffton, South Carolina into the residence at 99 Gascoigne Bluff. He played soccer in his younger years and attended M.C.Riley elementary school. He was switched out of that school and went to Bluffton elementary school. From there he attended McCracken middle school and ended up at Bluffton High School and played football his freshman year. He still resides in Bluffton and writes his poetry for Ms. Jenkins 1st block creative writing class. Some of his writings include I Hate School, Driving, and Freedom. He is only fifteen years old and in the 10th grade, but I think we can all expect great things from him. http://maxpages.com/creativewrite1?logout