This Journal Belongs to Ratchet Read Online Free Page B

A form of poetry in which the shape or design helps express the meaning or feeling of the poem.

WRITING EXERCISE: Write a progress report.
    Writing Format —PROGRESS REPORT: A report documenting progress made in regard to accomplishing a proposed goal.
    Report on Progress of Proposal Goal #2 — Be More Like Mom
    Places I’ve Searched for Clues about Mom:
    . Kitchen junk drawer
    . Living room TV stand
    . Dad’s nightstand
    . Linen closet storage bin
    . Office desk drawer
    Things I’ve Found:

WRITING EXERCISE: Write questions to interview an expert about a specific topic.
    Writing Format —INTERVIEW: Find an expert on your subject. Formulate important questions and record the expert’s responses.
    The only expert on Mom I know is Dad, so I imagine the interview questions I’d like to ask him.
    1. What did you like best about Mom?
    2. What did she like best about you?
    3. What did Mom like best about me ? (That’s the question I really want to ask.)
    4. What was her favorite color? Her favorite food? Her favorite TV show?
    But when Dad and I are in the garage, working on grinding down some rotors, those questions seem as out of place as I was in my Goodwill outfit at the “Get Charmed” class. So I ask a question that I’d never thought of before, but one that seems to fit the situation better. “Hey, Dad, did Mom like cars?”
    â€œWhat?” he asks, sounding confused, as he slides the caliper over the rotor.
    â€œMom. Did she like cars as much as you do? Did she ever help work on them like I do?”
    â€œNot really” is all he says; and the way he says it, I know the interview is over before it has even begun.

WRITING EXERCISE: Updated Progress Report
    Another day
    I search again
    For something of Mom’s.
    In cupboards
    In closets
    In dressers
    And
    Even bathroom drawers
    But
    Find
    Nothing.
    Then I see
    An old
    Cardboard box
    Full of
    Cotton balls
    And Q-tips
    Way in the back
    Under the sink
    In the second bathroom —
    The one Dad’s still fixing.
    And when I see it
    I remember
    The box.

WRITING EXERCISE: Write a free verse poem about an object in your house.
    The Mystery Box
    There’s a box.
    It’s cardboard.
    It’s taped shut.
    And it hasn’t been opened
    For a long time.
    You can tell
    Because the tape
    And the cardboard
    Are melted together.
    The box goes with us
    To each “Handyman Special” we move into.
    Sometimes Dad puts the box in his closet.
    Sometimes he puts it in the laundry room
    On a shelf.
    Sometimes he puts it in a kitchen cupboard.
    I wonder where
    Dad’s put it
    This time.
    In this house,
    Because I haven’t seen it lately
    And I haven’t found it,
    Yet.
    Maybe I can’t find
    Anything of Mom’s
    Because it’s all
    Inside
    The box.
    (I wonder what Dad would say if he read this.)
    The Other Box
    There is another box.
    Not taped shut
    Not up on the shelf
    Not hiding in the closet
    But here
    With me
    Every day
    Usually hiding inside
    A T-shirt
    I hate.
    We
    Live together,
    Eat together,
    Work together
    My dad and I.
    So why don’t I know what’s inside?
    The Third Box
    My heart
    Is the third box
    Held together by hope
    For something.
    I don’t even know what.
    The hope keeps the box
    Together.
    And keeps everything inside.
    So I hold on tightly
    To the hope,
    Afraid
    To let go
    Because
    No one knows what’s inside.
    Not Mom.
    Not Dad.
    Not even me.
    ?

WRITING EXERCISE: Write an observation report about something you did this week.
    Writing Format —OBSERVATION REPORT: A report that includes vivid details that appeal to all the senses.
    At the rec center, I walked down the hall. Thankfully, without being noticed by the cover girls. They were already crowded around Charlize, practically sitting on top of her. It looked like she had every kind of makeup ever made spread out on the front table. Eye shadow, blush, lip gloss, mascara, and I could smell perfume all