Words Can Affect People Without You Knowing It

Author's note: this is a cause and affect of an argument that Moses and Adam have in the book April Morning.

Sometimes people don’t realize the power that words have. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast there is a great example of this. Adam’s father, Moses, does not believe Adam is yet a man. He would often say things like “Are you willing to start a family and make enough money to live on your own?” and Adam would get upset because he didn’t feel that these were necessary to being a man. Moses doesn’t realize how these words affect Adam but it really makes him second guess himself and almost feel he is not wanted. When you are talking to some you should always make sure they understand what you mean completely in the right way.

Adams dad doesn’t intend to hurt his son’s feelings, but he tends to get carried away with things. He already is a little harsh on Adam because he wants him to become a man but he does not think it should happen so soon. When Moses says these things he believes that it will prepare Adam for manhood and does not realize what is really happening with Adam. In Moses’ mind he believes that by not acknowledging that Adam is growing up, he is doing his job as a parent in helping him prepare.

Since Moses wants this he tries to treat him like an adult and Adam cannot see his intent so he takes his words the wrong way. This makes Adam believe that his father does not want to accept the fact that Adam is growing up from childhood to manhood. Adam does not appreciate this and feels when Moses acts this way he does not love him. This is not true but Moses is naïve to seeing how his son reacts to his words.

Being naïve is almost human nature. This is why when we speak we have to be very careful on how the listener takes your words. You cannot just say something like “I’m not inviting you over to my house today.” You would have to say why; otherwise the person would probably think that you don’t like them anymore. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast, there are many examples of one person not understanding the other which later on turn into fights.

The Way You Think of Things

Authors note: This is an assigned piece for class on point of view.  It is on the book April Morning by Howard Fast.

When you start reading a book do you ever really think about the biases? In books there are many biases depending on whose point of view the book is written from.  In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast, it is written from the perspective of the son (Adam). From his perspective, he makes his dad (Moses) seem like a really bad guy. Moses and Adam get into a lot of arguments because Adam feels like he should be treated like a man but his dad doesn’t.  Adam influences the reader to believe that Moses is a horrible father, but this is not true. The point of view of a book can be deceiving and it all depends on whose perspective is being given.

One way that Adam’s point of view does influence the readers is when Adam wants to go to the committee meeting. Adam is almost sixteen but the dads of the community usually wait until their sons are adults before they let them go to the committee meetings. Adam and his father got into an argument because his father, Moses, wouldn’t let him go. Moses was being a little harsh but from Adam’s point of view it made it seem like he didn’t love him anymore. These two quotes show how Adam made it seem like he hated him but he really didn’t, “'He seems to have gotten the idea that you hate him', said Adam’s mother."(pg. 45) “'Hate him! Of all the crazy notions! Of all the idiotic ideas! There a boy, my first-born son-why, how could any man love a son anymore than I love that boy?' said Moses."(pg. 45) They argued and argued but in the end he almost seemed happy. He got to go walk with his girlfriend during the time he would’ve been at a committee meeting.

On the other hand, if this book was written from his mom’s point of view (Sarah) it would be very different. Sarah has a very different perspective than most people in this book because she is on the “outside” of almost everything like, the arguments, committee meetings, and many other things. One of the ways she stays on the outside is by staying out of the arguments. She just sits and listens to it all happen around her. There would be a lot less bias if it was written in her perspective so the reader would feel obligated to choose a side unlike in the original book where you almost have to choose Adam’s side.

As you can see the point of view makes a reader automatically think “oh well he seems so mean I’m going to choose the main characters side.” In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast there is a perfect example of this. The narrator’s (Adam’s) point of view convinces you to think that his dad is a horrible guy, but these things are just bias. All books that are written in the perspective of someone who is in the book have some sort of bias. Whether it’s about a protest or even an argument at home, the perspective of the character will always create some sort of bias.

Can We Live Without Motivation?

 Authors note: This is and essay on how Dally from the book "The Outsiders" is a static character.

          

            Dally ran into the store knowing that if he stole anything they would call the police, because he’s a greaser, which is what he wanted. Shortly after that he burst out of the store carrying a pack of gum. As soon as he got out of the store he could hear the sirens blaring. Dally made his way to the lot as quickly as possible. It was there were the police finally caught up with him. He whispered to himself quietly “I have nothing to live for”, and then pulled out his unloaded gun. The police were unaware that Dally’s gun was not loaded, without hesitation they shot him.  Johnny was Dally’s only motive to live, and without him he had nothing to live for. 

He intentionally committed homicide; he got the police to kill him because he couldn’t do it himself. Dally is a static character because he never changes through the book, he was a nice guy before the book began but once the book begins he already lost his innocence. He was cold and hard throughout the book except when around Johnny. So when Johnny died he felt it was his time too. In the end he was controlled by anger and his tough attitude. Even in death Dally remained static, against all the socs and society in general.

Throughout the book “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton, Dally was a tough, hard guy and Johnny was his life support. He felt that he needed to protect Johnny, who was his only reason to live. Dally got in many fights with socs, and even some with greasers. He stole whatever he wanted and he didn’t care if he got caught or sent to jail. At the end of the book it seemed like he wanted and was trying to change and become nice but then Johnny died. Johnny was his only motive to live, so when he died Dally is taken over and controlled by his anger and tough attitude and eventually intentionally makes the police kill him.

Another reason why Dally is a static character is because of his attitude towards the socs and the police never changed. He hated both groups because of many reasons. Some of them are, the socs jumped him many times for no reason and the police take him to jail just because he is a greaser. He thinks of the socs as just rich snotty kids and didn’t really care about their families. Because of this he treats them really bad and gets in fights with most of them. Even in the end of the book he gets in a big fit against the socs. When it comes to the police Dally doesn’t care if he goes to jail, and I know this because he never buys anything that he needs, he always just steals it.  He is like this in the beginning of the book and at the end because he goes to jail many times and at the end he steals a pack of gum from the store to make the police kill him.

On a different note Dally has a tough and an almost determined attitude and a figure that reminds me of Dally is Jon Krakauer from the book “Into Thin Air”. These two characters are alike because they both are trying to defy stereotypes; Dally by being a greaser while nobody thinks Jon can climb Mount Everest. Also both of these characters are determined to beat the odds, but only one of the two does. Dally seems like he is going to change at the end of the book and overcome Johnny’s death but he lets his toughness control him and purposely gets the   police to kill him. Jon on the other hand does overcome the odds and climbs Mount Everest when nobody thinks he can. Jon could’ve easily given up and let the circumstances determine his fate like Dally did, but instead he faced his challenges and overcame them. Jon and Dally are alike in many ways, but also have their differences.

 Everyone has differences and similarities. One similarity that everyone on earth has with each other is motives. Without realizing it we have many small things that motivate us to do certain things and without them we can get lost. In the story “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton there is a perfect example of this. Johnny is Dally’s only motive to live so when he dies Dally loses himself in his anger and makes the police kill him. It wasn’t just the end of the book that he was like this. He starts off really tough and angry at everything, and in the end he is controlled by his anger therefore he never changed. This makes Dally a static character.

The Unforgettable Words

Author's Note: This is my response to "The Outsiders" for Main Idea/Topic.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Johnny said these words to Ponyboy in his dying breath hoping that he would not lose his innocence. This saying relates back to the poem that Ponyboy recited on page 69 of The Outsiders book,

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then the leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

 To me this poem shows that eventually everyone loses their innocence.  Johnny knew that he Ponyboy could but he didn’t want him to lose his innocence, he did not want Ponyboy to become the stereotypical greaser, firm and unloving. Dally became this when he went to jail because he everyone in jail is really tuff and firm and it did not allow him to enjoy life anymore. Johnny and Ponyboy were different and Johnny didn’t want him to change. They always thought of other people before themselves as they did when they saved the little boys burning in the church. Johnny killed himself to save little the children, no one else would've ever done this, not on purpose at least. Going back to the original phrase "Stay gold Ponyboy" it makes me realize what the main theme of the book really is; the loss of innocence within the two different cliques. These unforgettable words that Johnny recited to Ponyboy in this devastating moment are one of the many things that he will never forget about Johnny's personality.

As The Years Go On

People don’t get to choose their groups, you are born into them. Cherry Valance is a perfect example. She was born into the soc group but it doesn’t seem like she wants to be there. Over a period of time she will start to drift away from her soc friends and start to hang out with the greasers.  My reasoning behind this prediction is that she doesn’t seem to like being a soc. She doesn’t judge the greasers like everyone else. . I think she will eventually “jump” groups and become a greaser. After this happens I think that her and dally will start to date. I think this will happen because her soc friend starts to judge him because she “heard” stuff about him but she doesn’t seem to mind. Then later that night she told Ponyboy that she might be in love with Dally. This will not happen in just a few days though; I think this will happen over the next few years of her life. It was never her choice to be a soc.

Why Did The Colonists Die So Soon?

Author’s note: I wrote this piece saying why I think so many Jamestown colonists died so fast.
So many colonists died in Jamestown, but why? They were not prepared for the hardships they would face on the new land. When they arrived too late to plant crops, so most of the crops failure and the harsh winters, it was almost like they were projected to die from the start. There were many gentleman who refused to work and just lived off their money so they suffered by bringing extra people without getting work out them, they should have put them to work on helping with the brackish water or even fighting the Indians. In 1607 over 100 Englishmen settled in a bay on the coast of Virginia, why did it only take a little over 3 years for all of them to die?

There were many reasons that the colonists may have died in Jamestown but one of the biggest reasons was the environment. When the colonists arrived it was too late to plant crops they did not bring enough food to survive them throughout the winter. The next four years or so they got little to no rain at all which made their crops go bad and not grow. Not only they couldn’t plant crops but they couldn’t drink the water because it was brackish. The brackish water made it unable to drink without cleaning it which took more work.

Not only were the environmental problems bad the settler skills were a problem too. The settlers only brought one surgeon expecting that they wouldn’t have many problems but they didn’t realize they were not going to get there after it was too late to plant crops. They also had many gentlemen who did not work so they were bringing extra people for nothing. The workers had to work for them and get them food and clean their water for nothing so it wasted a lot of energy and supplies.

Although the settlers were not very qualified workers I think another big reason most of the settlers died was because they did not have a good relationship with the Indians. The settlers came to this new land and just barged in and that made the Indians upset. This caused the Indians to start a few fights and kill a ton of the settlers. Also I think the Indians were upset because they wanted the trees and all the other stuff to stay but the people from Jamestown destroyed it all to make shelters.

Why did so many Jamestown colonists die? There are many different theories on why they died but are any of them really true? They pretty much set themselves up for failure. They came right before the winter and did not have much food. They probably died from many different things but I think the top three reasons are environmental problems, the settlers did not have the best skills, and the colonists relationships with the Indians. These many reasons conclude to all of them dying. They thought they could last forever but it only took three years for them all to die.

Are You Proud of Your Country?

Are you proud of your country? If you are like me you don’t really know how to respond to that question. I don’t have a response to that question because I have no real reason to be proud of my country because I am a thirteen year old kid that also just moved here from Canada two years ago. I could say that I'm amazed how the country has improved on intelligence but I could not say I'm proud because I don’t believe in fighting, so it is not like every time we win a war I cheer and say I'm so proud of them.

It's amazing how many people actually are proud but honestly what is there really to be proud of? Some people say that they are proud because we have a democracy but almost every country has more as a type of government that they think works. Also people say we are so lucky to have sports in our country but it is really only the third world countries that are not allowed sports other than that I cannot think of any countries that are not allowed to play sports.

Many people are proud of their country but what is the real reason? People say it is because we have wars or we have a democracy but those are not things to be proud of, almost every country has those things. I along with many others am unable to say I am proud, but I am able to say I'm amazed. I believe that this topic is very debatable on what they mean on "Are You Proud" but from my standpoint, no I am not proud of my country.

Moving to Canada

Authors note: We were assigned to write a persuasive piece of our choice so I decided to try to convince people that Canada isn’t a bad place to move to.

Most people would not think positively about moving to Canada. This is because they do not know much about it. Just as in the U.S. there are some big cities, sports, and lots of entertainment. Unlike the U.S. there are many places where there aren't a lot of people. Canada may be larger in square miles to the U.S. but has a much smaller population. In Canada you will also find some big tourist destinations. There is a province called Quebec and it is almost exactly like France but just across the border from the eastern U.S. Also in Edmonton, Alberta you will probably end up finding yourself in the Edmonton mall. There are lots of things to see and to do in Canada.

If you do end up in the Edmonton mall you will find that it is very big. It is more than 6 million sq. feet which is the biggest mall in the world. There are over 800 stores and over one hundred restaurants in the West Edmonton mall. The largest water park under one roof you can also find in the WEM (west Edmonton mall).If you lived anywhere near there you would probably visit Edmonton mall a lot. There is so much to do in there I couldn’t imagine why you would not want to live in Edmonton.

You think there is so much to do at the Edmonton mall "why not move there?" Well there is much more to do than just the mall. Another reason you might want to move to Canada is if you like hockey or almost any sport. In almost every city you will find at least one hockey arena. There are five NHL hockey teams and one MLB team in Canada. Also if you don’t like those sports you will also find a CFL league. It is a Canadian football league, which is like the NFL but played on a wider and longer field with only three downs.

Even if you don’t like sports, there are lots of other entertainment options. In Canada, there are two very well known singers. One of them all the girls fall for and the other has a lot of fans but not all girls. You may not have known this but these people are Justin Bieber and Drake. They probably have lots of tours in Canada considering they were born there. Some good places that they would probably tour are Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

You may not think of moving to Canada but this is only because you don’t know much about it. In the U.S. there are many big cities, sports teams, and lots of entertainment. It is a lot like that in Canada as well. In Canada there are 5 NHL teams, and one MLB team, the largest mall in the world and two of the world’s most famous singers. Canada as you may know is the second largest country in the world (by sq. miles) so that means there is lots of room to pack up your bags and move. There are so many things to do I don’t know why you would not want to live there.

Scary Sasquatch Story

Authors Note: This is half of a short story. It is about a guy that doesn’t believe in Sasquatch. (Big mistake)I will continue the other half of it for my next writing piece.

They ran through the forest not knowing what hit them. It was raining hard and they couldn’t see a thing. All they knew was it was a dark and stormy night when all of the sudden bang. Something was coming and it was coming fast. It all started when he was fifteen in the summer of '98. There was a Bigfoot sighting and he didn't believe it was true. All of his friends thought he was scared because one of his early family members had just recently disappeared.

Up until yesterday they have been making fun of him. He was so absurd today he decided to go out in the woods camping with his friends right in the center of the "wrestling ring". They call it the wrestling ring because it is the home to the most disappearances and Bigfoot sightings. They were having fun playing games, roasting hot dogs forgetting why they were there in the forest. They went back in the tent to go to sleep and it started to lightning. None of them could fall asleep, they were scared and worried that Bigfoot may actually be real.

Two of them went and checked outside. When they started to come back the others got worried they didn’t know what was coming. All of the sudden the door propped open and they all screamed! They were so scared they didn’t even realize that it was just their friends. Later that night one of them woke up to a scream but didn’t know where it came from, there was no one else awake and everyone was still there. He decided to take a walk outside when he saw something in the distance. He approached it suspiciously not knowing what to expect. He saw a very hairy man turn his head towards him, he started walking in his direction he started to run too and the he tried to yell but he…… was all that he got out.

Power Balance

I wear a bracelet called Power balance, it is supposed to help your balance and your inner strength. A lot of athletes wear them and when I bought it I believed it worked. I use it for everything; I never take it off unless someone wants to wear it. When I do not wear it for hockey I feel weird almost like I am missing something. Just a few months ago a place did scientific studies on it and proved that it is placebo. This does not mean it is fake but it means it works if you believe it works. I still wear mine for that reason because I believe it works.

pert two of toilet paper rolls life

When we land I am taken out and put on a cart. The cart is being driven by a man that for some reason scares me. Then I realize why. He stops and pulls out a knife, I am very sure we all know what happens next, but the man doesn’t cut me he simply puts the thing to be mistaken as a knife up to a door. The door opens we go inside and we drive by lots and lots of people, some of them look frustrated but some of them look happy. We drive back outside and only then do I realize how nice of a day it is. I am placed on a truck and we drive again this on not as long. Then a man carries me into a store and I couldn’t make out much but I think it said wal-cart.
I am placed on a shelf and my heart drops, all this excitement and now I’m back just as I started sitting on a shelf left to be forgotten. It’s a long night when I wake up in the morning, the lights turn on and soon enough people start rushing through. Nobody comes to the toilet paper they all go to the toys or clothes or other things. Then I see a mean looking man walk towards me he is giving me an evil eye and I’m not sure what to think. Then he grabs me!! I’m so excited!! He picks me up and takes me to the check out.
I’m driven to his house with a bunch of groceries and when we get there I am placed on the ground. I am left there for about ten minutes and then am placed in a bathroom. Nobody comes in for a while but then the first person just simply takes a shower. I sit here wondering when I will be used until the same man that bought comes in and sits down. I realize the rest is inappropriate but you guys probably get the picture. I am soo glad that my life came to this.

Dogs

I really like dogs. Over my life time I have had a great experience with dogs. All my life I have I have had a dog. My first dog was coco, she was really old all of my life time because my parents got her a long time ago. She was an apricot miniature poodle. She was getting really old so we had to put her down. I was really sad because I loved her. About a year or so later my mom surprised us and got us another apricot miniature poodle. It was really young and small because it was the runt of the litter. We named her molly and we took her home. She really likes living with us. She is the sweetest and nicest little dog you will ever meet.

Cats

I really don’t like cats. I have had a bad experience with cats. When I was five my aunt got a little kitty. It was really cute and I really liked it. I played with it all the time and it nibbled on my fingers. One day I went over to their house and I went to find the kitty. Well this was like a year or two later so it wasn’t such a kitty anymore. It was really fat and mean. I went to pet it and it snapped at me. I didn’t think anything of it so I pet it again. This time it bit me. It really hurt and it started to bleed. I got band aids and fixed it all up. This is why I really don’t like cats.

A Toilet Paper Rolls Life part one

“I woke up this morning with bang. It was the sound of the factories machines moving from side to side and up and down. I remember the day when I went through that process. Now I lay in a box waiting to be shipped although I think I may have been forgotten. I hear voices talking and things moving but nothing coming this way. I feel sad, lonely with no one to talk to. Oh wait what’s that whoa whoa whoa whoa. I’m being moved. Yaaaaaay!!!
I’m placed in a truck when we start to move, there are some hills and some bumps but I still cannot get over the fact that I am going somewhere. We get to our destination and im lifted out of the box. It is really bright and a great day to out. I am loaded on to a plane going to who knows were. I can smell the cheap perfume and cologne in everyone’s bags. I love it. We start to move and soon we are in the air. It takes a while but I hear the pilot’s voice. We will land shortly.

Spell-check

Spell check is a device on word that helps you correct your misspelled words. I think it helps a lot especially when you are in a rush. You would not want to have misspelled words on a resume. I find it funny how I am writing this piece on spell-check and I am using it right now. There is only one problem that I can think of with using spell check. It causes laziness because people don’t have to spell stuff right.

Golf

I love to golf. Golf season started just a little while ago. I have gone five times already this season and have played okay but not my best. I went Sunday and played pretty well but we only played nine holes. After me and my dad went to golfsmith(a store). There is a place in the back to test demo clubs. I was doing that and my dad walked over and say to try this. It was the new r11 burner rescue. I could hit it really well and it felt very good. I told my dad I wanted it and he said I couldn't. I really wanted it though. As we were looking around he finally said yes. I was soooooo excited. I cannot wait to use it in a real match.

Superslim Silence

Silicon is used to make the computer chips inside cell phones, computers, MP3 players and other electronic devices. Silicon comes in many forms, from large rock crystals to tiny grains of sand. You walk on silicon every day it is in the ground under your feet. Silicon makes up more than one-quarter of the weight of the Earth's crust. Silicon atoms form hexagonal shapes. Scientists have created sheets of silicon that are only one atom thick. This creation is called silicene. If you zoom in far enough with a powerful microscope, each sheet looks like a honeycomb.

Garbology

Author's Note: this is a story that i wrote will including six pieces of garbage. They are a contact holder, a crystal light packet, an envelope, a gum wrapper, a mini screw driver, a rubber band, and a twist tie

On a beautiful summer day when the sky was blue and everything seemed magical a man was walking and saw a rubber band and a twist tie on the ground. He picked them up and fooled around with them. He placed them in his spare envelope that he had in his coat pocket. He kept on walking when he saw this big bully beating up his friend. He remembered that he just finished drinking a crystal light. He folded it up and went in to attack.

He walked in silently and took his first shot. One man down five more to go. He grabbed a mini screw driver out of the guy he shot's pocket and threw it at the guy that was holding his friend. He gave his friend an extra rubber band he found and a gum wrapper. They started shooting and picked up more ammo off the ground. His friend pulled out a eye contact holder to place it in. They could not be stopped by anyone.

They felt so confident they went in a tournament. It was an amazing tournament. Things flying every where. The only problem was that they lost in the first round. I guess they were not as good as they thought they were. Everything is back to normal but the weird thing is no one ever spoke of anything that happened.

Half The World

Half the world lives,
Half the world makes,
Half the world gives
While the other half takes.

Half the world hates,
Half the world runs away,
Half the world's late,
Half the world praises the day.

Half the world is,
Half the world was,
Half the world thinks,
Half the world does.

Half the world lies,
Half the world burns,
Half the world cries
While the other half turns.

Half the world cares,
Half the world weeps,
Half the world shares,
Half the world keeps.

Half the world sings,
Half the world laughs,
Half the world brings,
Half the world tries to be the other half.

By:Deagel

I came across this picture and thought it would be great if I could find a picture for it. this poem just reminds me of life. It is very true. A lot of people do one thing but then the others do the opposite. I love how he/she writes this poem. They write it with the actual life feel.

Essay response to “The Hundredth Dove”

How would you look back on your life if you killed something important? In this story “the hundredth dove” by Jane Yolen a fowler named Hugh captures birds for the king to eat. He captures the small birds with a net that he made, but for the bigger birds Hugh uses a bow but doesn’t shoot. The birds just fall. Everything seems normal until Hugh does something tragic.

Hugh doesn’t normally get called to the king, but today he did. The king is getting married and wants the fowler to catch 100 doves. Thinking this is an easy task the fowler agrees. Hugh waited until night and threw his net. He caught twenty one doves but when he got up there were only 20. He did this multiple times and the same thing kept happening, until he had eighty doves. He went to catch more doves and the same thing happened but this time there were only 19. Finally he decided he would try to catch the one that was slipping away. He through his net then jumped on it. At last he had caught it. On his way back to his house the dove spoke to him. He was confused but just ignored it. The next day he brought the doves to the kings wedding but the bride did not show. It wasn’t till then that he realized that the dove he couldn’t catch was the king’s future wife.

The king did not suspect anything of the fowler. This draws me to the conclusion that the king has a ton of trust and respect in the fowler. Respect is very important to have especially when it is coming from the king. Hugh may have felt bad but he was just following his orders. How the fowler reacted to the situation made it seem like the author was trying to tell us to move on from our mistakes and not do what Hugh did.

After he realized the dove was the future wife of the king he pretty much went into solitary confinement. He never killed another bird and he sat in his house and did nothing. It was a bad thing to do but he followed the king’s orders. Hugh followed his orders but was it really the right thing to do? It is hard to do the right thing when it comes to following you king. This just goes to show how one wrong decision can make a huge impact on someone’s life.

Raymond's Run

How would you react if you knew someone being bullied? In this short story “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara the author is trying to tell us to stand up for what’s right. He shows this through the characters. These girls always make fun of the main characters brother and she stands up for him. She shows that these girls are not the only people that words matter. It is hard enough to stand up for what’s right but when it is the most popular girls in school that’s something else.                                                                                                                        

The author shows you should stand up for what’s right through the characters. Toni makes the mom and dad trust the daughter by giving her the responsibility of taking care of her older brother, but the brother is not all that normal. This gives the opportunity for some girls at her school make fun of him. They either call him names or embarrass him. She does the right thing and tells them off.                                                                                                                  

After a big race that the city had, all of the main characters strength really paid off. The girls that made fun of the main characters brother finally respected them.  Not only did they respect them but the main character found out that her brother was a lot like her. This was because they were around each other so much. She did the right thing and it all paid off.              

Good things happen when you do what is right and the author shows this through the characters in this story. Even though the girl was making fun of her brother, she knew that he was just another person. In the end there was respect between them.  We are all different some more than others. Could you imagine how hard it would be to stand up to a girl like that? How would you react if your brother was always being made fun of?

My Personal Metaphor

Author's Note: This is a personal metaphor created in class.

I am a Martin Brodeur saving every shot
I am a brother supporting at every turn
I am a human being walking the paths of the earth
I am a gamer beating every level
I am energetic living fully every day.

March Madness

March Madness is a time of year when the 64 best NCAAM basketball teams come together to have a playoff. this year I filled out my bracket and I had Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and San Diego State in the final four. I had Notre Dame going all the way because they are my favorite team. 

To Build A Fire

How many times have you seen birds flying south for the winter? They do not read somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive. In Jack London's "To Build a Fire" we see how that man is sometimes foolish. The man, who is walking in seventy-five degrees below zero weather, lets his learned behavior override his instinct.

He died because he listened to what he has learned rather than his instincts. London's theme is that no matter how intelligent society becomes, we as a species should never discard our basic instincts. In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is cold, but only sees this as a fact and not a danger. The man spit on the ground to test how cold it was. His test taught him that it was colder than he had first thought, but he never thought that it was really that serious. "That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head". To many times modern man plods along oblivious to the reality that lies one moment or misstep away. The man sees that he is feeling the effects of the cold more and more as he goes along, but he pushes on.


Several times he comments that the cold is making his hands and feet numbed, and frostbite is killing his cheeks. He thinks "What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all. . ." Again he chose to ignore an instinct that would have saved him. The dog, on the other hand, although guided by his learned behavior still retains his instincts. The dog follows the man throughout his ill faded journey, but after the man perishes he relies upon his instincts to survive. This is witnessed in the last paragraph by the statement "Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where there were other food providers and fire providers".

The theme of London's "To Build a Fire" is how we should all take heed to modern knowledge and learned behavior has its benefits, but our primal instincts should never have ignored. The man in the story had lots of knowledge but neglected to pay attention to his "sixth sense." The dog on the other hand, followed as long as he could but then let his instincts carry him to safety. We can never have enough knowledge to replace the survival skill that nature has provided us.