Facing a Challenge

Author's Note: This is my DWA Spring... It is a reflective piece on "I am Number Four", and comparing it to other text, myself, and the world.

Faced with a Challenge

Staring death eye to eye, having the whole world’s faith in your hands, you step toward the beast, and you pull out your sword……. Odds are you have never been in this situation, but have you been relied on heavily to do something? Chances are pretty high that you have.  And during those situations, have you let people down? In the book I am Number Four,  John has some highs and lows, and tries to stay hidden as much as possible. But when he gets too close to his friends, it’s too late, and he has to perform something so unimaginable, he starts to doubt himself. And if he fails, the whole world is coming down with him. This reminds me a lot about Katniss, myself sometimes, and a lot of people in today’s world.

I relate this book to somewhat of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  In I am Number Four, John has the whole Earth relying on him. In the Hunger Games Trilogy, Katniss is noticed as the role Mockingjay, which forces everyone to expect her to be the alpha woman and make all the right moves. Well, in both books, the fact of the matter is you’re not always going to make the right move. It’s about getting past those little blips and finding your way through them.

Even though I can relate this fiction book to another fiction book, I can also relate it to my life. Sometimes I am faced with tough ways though life, some little bumps in my path. I may be expected to get something done, and if I don’t have it done, I get ridiculed. I may not have the whole human race to carry on my back, but other people in my life are still depending on me. I have to learn to get through those little bumps on the road, and keep chugging down along the rigity, rugged road to complete the task.

I see myself facing rough patches in a tough task all the time, but I also see it in today’s leaders around the world as well. Barack Obama gets judged all around the world. If he does something even slightly wrong, he will get scorned by the whole country. It just shows that even our nation’s leader can get through these twitches in the job, and still get the task done.

If you are faced with a tough challenge, and you encounter some turbulence, do you call it quits and just say, “It’s too hard, I’m done.” No, you have to go straight through the turbulence and get the job done. John showed that in I am Number Four. Katniss showed that in Mockingjay. People all around the world do the same thing every day. Will you step up to the plate, take the curve-ball from the pitcher, and swing away?

A Clean Well Lighted Place

Author's Note: This is a short response on the film adaptation compared to the story of "A Clean Well-Lighted Place". It explains one thing I did like and one thing I didn't.

The obvious dislike that the director of "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" stumbled a pon was the misconception of the setting. In the story, it was described like this: “[A] terrace where the tables were all empty except where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the tree that moved slightly in the wind." This is saying that the old man was sitting outside on the terrace by a tree. In the film adaptation, the old man was sitting at a booth with a lot of light inside. If you were to put him in an exact opposite setting, that’s what it would be. I don’t think the director interpreted that very well.

Now, although this mistake was very different from the original piece, maybe the director put it in there for a reason. The old man was sitting in a spot with a ton of light, which describes life and happiness. The older waiter made a comment stating: "He stays up because he likes it." This is showing that he was in his “happy place”. Then at the end as he was walking into the darkness, he was walking back into the shadows, back to his normal life, back to his despaired life. 

Appearance vs Reality

Author's Note: This essay is going to show examples of how To Kill A Mockingbird shows this theme of Appearance vs Reality.

Everyone has heard the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover."  Appearance can be very deceiving in today's society, and what you think might look like a dumb, old, not so fun "book", it really could be exciting, exhilarating and adventurous "book".  Now, I say this because there are a lot of books that really seem to include this philosophical idea in the story. To Kill a Mockingbird is definitely one of them. Not only does Scout's conception of her father, Atticus show this idea, but so does the misconception of Boo Bradley, Jem's judgment of Mrs. Dubose and the judgment of blacks.

Atticus is a boring, loosely parenting dad. Or so Scout thinks. It's not until the mad dog incident that Scout realizes that Atticus is not boring, yet he is exciting and well-minded. "Didn't you know that his nickname was Ol' One-Shot when he was a boy?" Mrs. Maudie told the kids (98). They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Their dad actually wasn't boring. Atticus' appearance was very deluding, but the reality was that Atticus was more than the boring, not so fun dad.

Besides Atticus being "misjudged", Boo Radley is thought of as this ugly, nasty, treacherous person that has no soul. He was so awfully thought of that the kids would dare each other to run across the porch; to the kids it seemed as dangerous as jumping over a bomb. Then throughout the first part of the story, Boo Radley turns into this mysterious character, never showing his face out in public, leaving presents in the tree, fixing Jem's overalls. Then, the night in which Mrs. Maudie's house is on fire, Boo Radley comes out of his house to set a blanket on the shoulders of Scout without her even knowing it. Later, after the fire, Scout finds out that Boo Radley was the one that put the blanket on her: "You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when [Boo Radley] put the blanket around you" (72). The original ideation that Boo Radley is a freak and lunatic is completely erased throughout the book, as he continually gains sympathy from the children. This is a prime example of Boo Radley's appearance compared to the reality.

Boo Radley proved to be a very caring person, but Mrs. Dubose is just mean and cruel, right? At least that's what Jem thinks. She is just mean and hates kids, overall a thoroughly bad woman. Jem later finds out that Mrs. Dubose takes morphine which causes these dramatic mood swings. Not only does this change his perspective on why she’s so mean, but it changes how he looks at her. Jem admires Mrs. Dubose for her bravery to fight the morphine, and she proves another point on how appearance is usually different than reality.

And then there’s the reason why this whole story came about, blacks are slaves and nothing else. Every man is not created equal and the whites get whatever they want. They can do anything they desire to the blacks, and the blacks can do nothing about. Nothing. “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (90). It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. Why? Because they can’t do anything about it. They sing songs, don’t harm anything, and they can’t defend themselves….. This was applied later in the book, otherwise known as “foreshadowing”. The jury didn’t have any proof that Tom Robinson raped the white woman. Atticus put up a hell of an argument. But though the whites can do whatever they want, they kill the mockingbird. Blacks are real people too. Even though their appearance and skin is different than everyone else, it doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings or don’t care about anyone at all.

The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird show us that every object, every person might not be the way that they seem. This is also the case in the real world. A person who may look unsocial might be very fun to talk too. A person who may look like all smiles on the inside may be sad and weeping in their heart. A person who always shies down may be the bravest person in the world. Don’t judge other people by their looks, because you could be missing something great.

Express Yourself However You Want

Author's Note: This is going to be an essay about expressing yourself the right way. It is an essay to show you the options you have to express yourself. Whatever works best for you..... 

When you try to express yourself, sometimes it can be a struggle. Whether it is showing your thoughts through writing, drawing, speaking, or physical activity, there is never a perfect way to express what is going on in your mind. You are the only one in the whole world who knows what goes on in your brain. The only one. You know exactly what you want to say or do or express to another person, but then the other person just sees it a different way. Its an unknown mystery as to which way to express yourself is the best; is it talking, writing, or drawing?

One of the most common ways of communicating with others is the idea of speaking. Whether you are looking at a person eye to eye, or talking to someone on the phone, you can hear the tone and mood and emphasis in pronunciation, which is such a key part of expressing your feelings that writing or drawing doesn't have. However, don't under-estimate the power of eye contact and how that can effect the meaning of what you are saying. Whether you are looking someone directly in the eye or you are shying away can show huge meanings towards the other person about how you feel about them. A lot of people choose talking, but there are many more ways you can express yourself.

Besides talking, a person can use the idea of writing to show their emotions and appreciation for another person. Our world has evolved from using cans and string, to seeing teenagers attached to their little devices, trying to communicate with one another sending the :) or the BRB's. This wonderful world has also evolved with the invention of Email so that people can communicate through computers and send files back and forth, or pictures. Written communication can be very powerful sometimes. When texting, if you spell everything right, or everything wrong can immensely show whether the person is relaxed talking to you, or he wants to be really formal. If a person capitalizes everything in a  small portion of the text, it could tell you that they are yelling, or they want you to notice something really important. Even though you are not talking to someone eye to eye, written communication can be very valuable.

When you don't use speaking or writing to communicate, the most common way to express your feelings and communicate with everyone around the world is drawing. There are artists dating all the way back to the 1500's that have been using the idea of art to express how they feel about the world. There are many displays throughout every country displaying the artists feelings and talents of drawing. A painting never looks the same to any person throughout the world. A bright, vibrant painting to someone might mean that the person was very happy while drawing it, but another person might think that the person was trying to describe how they were seeing the world at that specific moment. Art is one of the most expressional and inspirational ways of expressing your feelings, and sometimes it can be the most powerful too. 

Whether expressing your feelings is letting other people experience your joy and happiness, or you're trying to get all your anger out of your body, you have to figure out which method works best for you. Speaking might be the best because you can get all of your feelings out of your body quick and easily. Or it may be writing, so you can soothly let something out of your body by writing it all down. Or it may even be making art to express what you are feeling. No matter what you choose, every one is a quality way of expressing your emotions to other people. Just remember one thing, it DOES NOT matter which way you express yourself, but make sure you do express yourself, because if you don't, it could build up, and tear you down.

Figurative Language Revision "Life is Precious"

Author's Note: This is for my figurative language piece. I took one of my previous writing pieces, from September 27, and put some figurative language into the writing piece. I will include an original piece below.

Revised Piece

Life is precious, it shouldn't be wasted.  You only get one chance to live, and you have to live it to the fullest. People all over the world have different points of view from their own lives.  There are bulky names like Tom Brady or Brittany Spears. But then you look on the other side of the spectrum where you have people in Africa walking five miles to carry a bucket of water on their head for their family. There are many points of view, but no matter what the circumstances, you have to live it to the fullest.

Most people who live in Africa don’t have enough money to even afford a shelter or food. Yet even with the rough conditions, they still find a way to make their life the best they could possibly have. African natives typically have to walk more than three miles to get their water for the day. At first it doesn't feel that bad, but after a while, the weight that was a bucket turns into an elephant. Yet they enjoy it and never give up. Americans don’t generally think about how much we use a water fountain or a sink, how much we could be saving people in our own community, how much we could be saving someone else around the world.

Besides people in poverty, there are many who live right here in the United States that are in severe occasions such as cancer or blood disorder. There was a ten year old boy named Jack that lived in the Southeastern part of Wisconsin, and he was diagnosed with cancer when he was three. He fought cancer for seven years, but the doctors ran out of ways to treat the young boy. So with no more options, they thought it would be best if they let him move on. The boy did not cry or sob when he heard the news, he simply said “I want to live the rest of my life in peace.” It's like a basketball team, even though they might be down 25, if the team is strong they will keep fighting. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. Jack passed away on August 28, 2012 when he was ten, and he will always be remembered for his courage.

With all the harsh conditions that the world brings us today, it’s hard to imagine how to make a life out of these rough statuses. That just proves that life can be lived with joy and peace, it’s just what you make of it. If you decide to throw in the towel and lay down for a nap, you will miss everything good about life itself. If you decide to watch your life, everything will be gone in a matter of time. Life is delicate, and you only have an short period of time till you leave this earth. It's your life, not anybody elses, so don't watch, LIVE.

Original Piece

Life is precious, it shouldn't be wasted.  You only get one chance to live, and you have to live it to the fullest. People all over the world have different points of view from their own lives.  There are bulky names like Tom Brady or Brittany Spears. But then you look on the other side of the spectrum where you have people in Africa walking five miles to carry a bucket of water on their head for their family. There are many points of view, but no matter what the circumstances, you have to live it to the fullest.

Most people who live in Africa don’t have enough money to even afford a shelter or food. Yet even with the rough conditions, they still find a way to make their life the best they could possibly have. African natives typically have to walk more than three miles to get their water for the day. That’s like carrying a three pound bucket of water for six miles. Yet they enjoy it and never give up. Americans don’t generally think about how much we use a water fountain or a sink, and how much we could be saving someone else around the world.

Besides people in poverty, there are many who live right here in the United States that are in severe occasions such as cancer or blood disorder. There was a ten year old boy named Jack that lived in the Southeastern part of Wisconsin, and he was diagnosed with cancer when he was three. He has been fighting cancer for seven years, but the doctors ran out of ways to treat the young boy. So with no more options, they thought it would be best if they let him move on. The boy did not cry or sob when he heard the news, he simply said “I want to live the rest of my life in peace.” Jack passed away on August 28, 2012 when he was ten, and he will always be remembered for his courage.

With all the harsh conditions that the world brings us today, it’s hard to imagine how to make a life out of these rough statuses. That just proves that life can be lived with joy and peace, it’s just what you make of it. Life is delicate, and if you make the most out of life, you’ll be overjoyed too.

Sudden Fiction Basketball

Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote in about 20 minutes, just getting my ideas onto a paper during a class in LA. We were talking about Sudden Fiction, and we had to use "spring", "bank" and "Oh, I should have told you".

It was 6:30 pm, early Spring, and the whole city of Atlanta was piling in to the Georgia Dome. They were all here to witness one thing; the Championship game between Minnesota and Kansas. The March Madness tournament had been great, and after all 126 games, these two teams were left, being carried by their two all-star point guards Ben McLemore and Andre Hollins. Everyone was settling in with their popcorn and Mt. Dew, and the tip went up.

Kansas controlled the ball first, and dumped it down to Jeff Withey. Jayhawks were on the board quickly, with the lead 2-0. The game was back in forth all game until the 5:00 mark in the first half. The score was 22-21 Jayhawks, before McLemore took over. He kept taking three by three, drilling every one. When Minnesota jumped in the air to block the shot, he would drive to the basket and lay the lay-up in, and the n the free throw followed.  Meanwhile, on the other end of the court, Minnesota went cold. Threes were half-way down the basket, but came out. They had turnovers, charges, every way possible to give up the ball. After the atrocious play by the Gophers and the outstanding play by McLemore and the Jayhawks, the halftime score stood at 43-25.

It all seemed over for Minnesota, as most people in the crowd looked so bored that they would rather watch paint dry than watch this blowout. As the teams head back onto the court, the crowds cheered loudly for the leading Jayhawks, but go silent for the Golden Gophers. The Gophers demeanor looked diminished, and the whole world wondered if they had any fight left in them. By the looks of it, this was going to be one of the lopsided championship games of all time. Boy were we wrong. Minnesota came firing out of the gate, scoring left and right. Stealing the ensuing inbounds, trapping in the corners, all leading to easy baskets. 7:00 ago it looked as if Kansas was already holding up the trophy, but now it's a good old classic college basketball dog fight.

With 180 seconds left in the game, the score was tied at 60. Minnesota had the ball, taking as much time off the shot clock as they could. With 7 seconds left on the shot clock, Andre Hollins calls for a screen. Trevor Mbakwe comes up, and picks McLemore to the ground. Hollins is left wide open for the three, and puts it right on the money, Minnesota up 63-60. Kansas quickly gets it up court, and scores the alley-oop to Jeff Withey. 63-62.

Now with 67 seconds, every second counts. Hollins takes a full 27 seconds before the offense gets into gear. He is isolated with Ben McLemore at the top of the key, and pulls up. He hits it off of back iron and Kevin Young from the Jayhawks pulls down the rebound.

Bill Self, the coach of the Jayhawks, wants to talk it over with his team. "Do you guys remember the play we added in last week during the team meeting?"

 McLemore chirps over on the side of the huddle, "I was sick that day."

"Oh… you're right. I should have told you. Well here's the play…"

The ref taps on Bill Self's shoulder. "Coach, I need your players out on the court."

Bill Self nods. "Okay, we are just going to have to run the isolation play. Everyone get off on the right side. Withey and McLemore run the two man game on the left side of the court. Jayhawks on three. 123… Jayhawks!"

 So the players walk out onto the court, and Kevin Young throws it into McLemore. He dribbles around up top for 25 seconds, then goes to work. He rolls over to the side with Withey, and passes it down low. Withey sizes up Mbawke, looking for an open shot. He sees that Hollins had dropped down to help, so he passes it back to McLemore for the open jumper. Hollins tries to get back quickly, but he's not quick enough. McLemore puts up the shot, but it hits rim and goes off. Mbakwe gets the rebound, but the whistle blows. Hollins has fouled the three point shooter McLemore.

Minnesota calls a timeout to ice the shooter, and it's a matter of moments before the players head out onto the court. Minnesota now has no timeouts left, so they must get the rebound and go. There are 4.3 seconds left on the clock, and Ben sinks the first two free throws. With all the pressure, he bricks the third one, and Mbakwe gets the rebound.

Minnesota must hurry and put up a desperation shot. He gets it out to Andre Hollins on the right wing and he flies up the court. With .3 seconds left, he lofts it up from half. For a moment all seems to go slow mo. It seems as if the ball will never get there. As if straight from a movie, the ball kisses the backboard, and tumbles down through the net. Hollins had banked in the game winner! Everyone in yelllow jerseys started storming the court with excitement and joy! Minnesota was going home a winner! Unbelievable, Unbelievable!!!

War Separates

Author's Note: I wrote this essay for social studies, but figured that I could use this as my compare/contrast essay. The Patriot is a movie about a general who has to bear the losing of his two oldest sons in front of his eyes, but leads the patriots against England to a victory with the help from the French. My Brother Sam is Dead is about Tim, younger brother of Sam, who doesn't know to go either with Sam to the rebel army or with his dad to the English side. 

War was a harsh, cruel act in the 1700’s and 1800’s.  It separated families; in some cases, forcing them to kill each other.  But when your loved ones die, it is put on to a whole other level. The agony of watching a person you’ve grown up with, taken care of, and shared your life with, laying lifeless on the ground.  My Brother Sam is Dead and The Patriot are examples of these harsh conditions, but they are unique, because they show a different point of view.

                When sitting next to your sibling on the couch, do you expect them to fight in war, maybe giving up their life? No, no one does. Unfortunately, in My Brother Sam is Dead and The Patriot, these things have to be accounted for at all times. Benjamin Martin, a leader, sees his own children killed by a Britian soldier, one he eventually kills (Emmerich).  Tim, a follower, has to bear the shooting of his own brother, one he looks up to for every decision in his life (Collier).  No one in the world could know what it is like to watch their brother, son, spouse, get shot in war.  This was one of the many tragedies in the late 1700’s, one we fortunately don’t have to encounter.

                Although the main characters have to stand the killings of their loved ones in front of their own lives, they play very different roles for the war. Benjamin was a leader for the Colonial Army, leading the army against the mighty British army and Colonel Tavington (Emmerich).  Tim, the nararator of My Brother Sam is Dead, is a young boy who doesn’t know which side to choose in the war. He wants to follow his brother into the Colonial Army, but his conscience tells him to stick with his father. He ends up on the mid line, never deciding which way to go (Collier).

                The main characters differ in roles, but the characters have to endure the same happenings, the destruction of their loved ones. When you look deeper into these two films/books, there are many differences. But the main idea of the stories all bring them back together, the Revolutionary War. The Patriot and My Brother Sam is Dead are very great stories, and they all jump on the same main idea: War separates and kills.