Regents Practice Exam

Andy Brown
English 1101
Ms. S. Aiken
October 20, 2008
Raised by Circumstance
The Brown family lineage can be traced back for centuries. It all began hundreds of years ago in Germany, but through time and circumstance, it brought them the Pennsylvania, where each child of Jack and Betty Brown (my grandfather and grandmother) went their own separate way. My father’s was the way of travel, his many travels had brought him to meet my mother in Brazil and the rest is history. In their lifetime they have had three healthy children, Andrew, Daniel, and Emily.
Being the oldest, I had many responsibilities. My parents were more in experimental stages of their lives when they had me. Since I was their first-born, my parents were often stricter, with earlier curfews and heavily enforced rules. There was obviously a higher margin of error seeing as how my parents did not know anything about raising a child.
Because of the fact that I was under tighter rules, I grew up to be very liberal. My parents were always very conservative. I always swore that I would never be a parent like they were. Although, my parents disagree with some of the decisions I have made (such as getting an earring) they are still proud of me, and I am more than happy to make them that way.
The next to be born in my family was my little brother, Daniel. After waiting six years from their previous child (because they were not sure if they could handle another me) he was born. Being second born, and thirteen months older than my even younger sister, his living conditions were a bit different than mine. He grew up a little more relaxed than I was. I was the family’s “guinea pig” and so now they were more confident. Daniel would grow up having a larger spending allowance, fewer chores, and later curfews. He would be able to get away with just about anything because he was the current youngest. Needless to say, I received a lot less attention, but that was all right because I was a bit older by then.
Daniel grew up completely differently than I did. Though he was raised in a more liberal environment, he chose to become more conservative. He always did better in school than I did, obeyed the rules better than I did, and adapted to wherever we were living at the time better than I did.
Finally, thirteen months after Daniel’s birth, my youngest sibling, Emily was born. Being the youngest and the last, Emily could get away with almost anything. My family always treasured her because she was the youngest. She has a petite body type, which would give you the illusion that she is a lot younger than she really is. She was also very cute (pale skinned, blue eyes, and dark hair), so she could talk her way out of anything.
Emily was always very aware of the fact that she could do anything and not get in trouble, so she did. She would always push the rules and see how far they would bend. This led her to develop a very liberal attitude. Unlike Daniel and I, she was also very attached to her friends, following whatever trends and fads were popular. This got her in a bit of trouble every now and then, but we would always keep her from anything too bad.
All of our personalities also differ because of the different places we lived. They also differ based on how much involvement our extended family had with us. There is more to our differences than just birth order, but birth order is a huge contributing factor. It just remains to be seen how it will affect our adult lives. Which of us will get married first? Have kids first? Have financial problems first? I guess that these are questions my parents do not look forward to answering.