Monday, May 27, 2013

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay


In the book to Kill a Mockingbird there are many different themes and messages throughout the book. One main theme that is shown throughout the story is the social inequalities that happen to characters. There are many different social inequalities that happen in Maycomb and show how you shouldn't judge someone on what they look like and their skin color.
One example of social inequalities in the book is how Jem described what Boo Radley looks like and how he acts. On page 16 Jem was telling Scout and Dill about Boo “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch....There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” Jem is just assuming that Boo Radley is a creepy, scary guy when he never seen or meet him before. The kids thought about Boo changes by the end of the book when Bob Ewell was attacking the kids and was about to stab them, but Boo radley saved them. Scout and Jem realized that Boo wasn't actually a creepy guy and realized that he was more of a caring person.
Another example of social inequality that happened in the book is when Tom Robinson was found guilty by the jury. Page 282 “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty. . .guilty. . . guilty. . . guilty . .” The evidence that was shown proved that Tom Robinson was innocent. Since Mayella was punched on her left side and it would've been impossible for Tom to of punched her on the left side of her face because Tom’s right arm is 12 inches shorter than his left arm from an accident that he had from a cotton machine. So if he would of punched her it would've been on the right side of Mayella's face. But even though the evidence was shown Tom Robinson was still found guilty by the all white jury. This happened only because Tom was black and they all were prejudiced towards blacks.
“I heard her say it’s about time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us.” page 331. Scout heard Miss Gates say this about the trial to Stephanie Crawford. The only reason why Miss Gates said this about the trial was because Tom Robinson is black. Miss Gates feels that blacks don’t deserve the same things that whites get. This was just another example of the social inequalities shown in the book.
A lot of social inequalities are shown in To Kill a Mockingbird. Some are from judging a person on how they look and act or by their skin color. The theme of social inequalities shows you how it is never okay to judge someone. Also to think about how you would feel if you were to be judged and to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The old man and the sea


The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Scrubber Paperback Fiction, 1952. Genre: Fiction
The Old Man and the Sea is about an old man named Santiago. He has been unlucky lately and hasn't been able to catch a fish for 84 days. Santiago is considers as "salao" which means the worst form of unlucky. Santiago's apprentice is named Manolin and due to Santiago's bad luck Manolins parents had forbidden him to go fishing with the old man.



On the eighty fifth day santiago went out on his boat into the Gulf stream to go fishing. At
around noon a large fish started going after his bait, which seemed to him to be a marlin. But the old man was unable to pull the marlin out of the water because the marlin was so strong. After two days the old man started to get in pain from fighting and pulling the fish. On the third day the marlin starts to get tired and is circling the fishing pole. The old man then used all his strength and pulled the marlin up on its side and stabbed it with a harpoon. The man strapped the marlin onto his boat and went back home. But on his way back home the Marlin was leaving a trail of blood in the water that was attracting sharks. First a mako shark comes and the old man kills it with his harpoon and ends up losing it with the fish. He then makes another one with his knife and a oar. Santiago continues till night time fighting the sharks. The sharks have pretty much completely took the marlin’s carcass and just left the
skeleton. Santiago arrives home and goes up to his shack to fall asleep. The next day fisherman went to santiago’s boat to measure the skeleton and measured  that is was 18 feet long. When Santiago woke up from his sleep Manolin was there and promised that he would go fishing together.
“It had good descriptions and good details. Overall I did not enjoy the book very much, because basically throughout the whole book it talked about a man catching a fish. I liked the way the author made the story a little more interesting, the way he explained the old man being there for three days and all the details he had in that section. The thing I didn't really like was that the story kept dragging on and on about the same thing.” By a customer, Amazon.com reviewer.
I agree with the reviewer because I think pretty much the same way about the book. I think the book was okay it was a little bit boring at first when it was just describing the Old man fishing but then when he started to fight with the Marlin and the sharks the book got a little bit better.
“The fish just moved away slowly and the old man could not raise him an inch.” (44). This made me imagine the struggle the old man was having trying to pull the marlin out of the water.
I don’t really ever read books, but it kind of reminded me on how in the Hunger Games Katniss never gave up and used all her energy to win the games. Which in The Old man and the Sea the old man never gave up on catching the fish and used all the strength he had.
“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” I think this means that a man will never give up on something they want even if it destroys them. I agree and disagree with it because it depends on the situation.
This book was kind of boring because I didn’t really like reading about just a man trying to catch fish the whole time. I give The Old Man and the Sea 2 paws- find better prey.


Monday, March 11, 2013

The Driving Test

1. I would want the reader to be entertained
2. I think the dialogue worked well
3. I Didnt finish My story yet so it is not really consistent
4. What should I add to it to make it more detailed?

The Driving Test
Few things actually excite a teenager, one of these few are learning how to drive. I think every kid dreams of being behind the wheel and when it finally comes time to learn we are more than eager. Some compare it to learning how to ride a bike, and of course those are normally the kids that catch on remarkably quick. No falls or scraped knees, and then there are those who have many and take a trip down to the Emergency room requiring stitches. These very clumsy individuals, like Jessica, eventually grow up and need to learn how to drive.
Jessica wanted to go driving more than a chubby kid wants cake. She was in absolute desperation. Even to just swerve around in an abandoned parking lot seemed thrilling. jessica always begged her mom or dad to just take her down to the parking lot amdndrive around. Jessicas mom was getting really annoyed with the constant asking and it was gonna be her sixteenth birthday in just a week so her mom decided to bring her.
The day finally rolled around that she turned 16 and now nothing stood in her way, she had just received her permit.
Mistaking the gas for the breaks half of the ride which caused her instructor to put on the hazard lights for the rest of the drive. The instructor wasnt to thrilled with her driving skills and told jessica that she needed alot more practice to be able to get her license.
when jessica went home after her disappointing driving class, her dad wanted to take jessica out to practice driving. which was a big mistake on his part. As jessica started to pull out she hits the gas pedal a little bit to hard and knocks out the rear view mirror. Her fathers runs out of the car screaming "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!" As jessica sees the mirror hanging down from the car her jaw drops. Her dad gets back in the car "I' m not mad at you....you just have to pay for a new mirror" her dad says with anger "now lets drive, make sure to go SLOW."  
Following closely behind the car was Ms. Priss, Jessica’s future step mother walking to get the mail. As Jessica shifted the gear to drive she acidentally shifted in reverse.
“What had I just hit?” And to her horror she looked back to find Cruella sprawled out on the garage floor.
After a brief inner conflict of whether or not she should get out of the car or just drive away Jessica came out to Ann writhing on the ground clasping her ankle that was “broken”. If the woman hadn’t been wearing her four inch heels the fall wouldn’t have been as drastic. It was as if she were wearing stilts.
“Are you alright” Jessica asked as she approached her which sounded quite casual considering the situation.
“Of course I’m not okay! You just backed your father’s car into me and nearly killed me!” She shrieked at such a high pitch that I’m surprised every bird in a 10 mile radius wasn’t summoned. “My poor Shoes!” Jessica’s attention was redirected to her shoes with a removed heel. What a bummer. “And this skirt is VINTAGE!” What does that even mean? With a final scream of anguish she laid on her back as the tears streamed down her face.
“I am so sorry” Jessica said with sarcasm, though this was the normal tone that she used with Ann because she never picked up on the sarcasm.

Ann’s poor starbucks was sent everywhere from her spastic fall. “What a shame” she thought feeling worst about wasting a perfectly good cup of coffee than running over her future mother in law, which at the mention of this title she normally cringed. Today she just laughed at the thought of it.
Looking down at her hands to see the damage. The first thing that came to her mind after being hit by a Toyota was whether she had broken a nail or not. This woman is unbelievable.
She was whisked away by my father all lovingly.
All that was left was her “Louie’s” that laid shattered, post war on the ground and Jessica that had been forgotten.
……Whoops
From their sympathy and 2 failed driving tests later, the DMV had finally granted Jessica her license, no thanks to Ann.

Monday, January 14, 2013

IPhone and Friends (Final)


What is really important in life? What do people value more now a day’s, is it the high priced items with designer labels? Or is it the moments in our lives that are special to us? Both priced and the moments in life I value a lot. I think i value more the moments in life because spending time with friends and family makes great memories that you can keep with yourself forever. Like going to beach with your family and hanging out with friends. But I also value the priced items since you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that didn’t mean something to you.
It was in 5th grade when i got my first phone, i had that phone for about 2 years and got a new phone which was the iphone 3gs. When i got this phone it was so exciting to have gotten such an awesome phone. At that time the iphone 3gs was the newest and bestest phone. But after a year of having that phone the new iphone 4 and the 4s came out. My iphone started to freeze and became really slow and also it did not have a front facing camera like the new iphone. So ever since the iphone 4s came out i was asking my dad to let me get the new iphone and i even was offering to pay for it myself. But he just wouldn’t let me and said it was a waste of money if i already had the iphone. After a long time of asking i just was gonna wait a little while to get a  phone and wait for the new iphone 5 to be released.
After a long time of waiting, the iphone 5 finally came out in September. I was so excited and wanted to go to the mall right away to get it. But my dad still wanted me to wait to get it. I was getting annoyed on waiting so long but i knew it was gonna be worth it when i would finally get the phone. It was about 2 months after the phone was released when my dad finally decided to bring me to get the IPhone 5. The cost of my phone was $200 even though it was a lot of money to spend on a phone it was completely worth it.
It was so exciting to have finally gotten the iphone and use all the different features it had compared to my old IPhone 3gs. I loved the new design of the iphone with a larger screen and having it be thinner and lighter. I really enjoy taking pictures on my phone cause it has such nice quality. Also I love listening to music with the headphone that came with the phone, they have really good quality which makes listening to my favorite music a lot better.


I always enjoy hanging out with friends and making memories. I always look forward to the weekend to be able to hangout with friends and have fun after a long and tiring week of school. Whenever i hang out with my friends its always a fun time and always enjoyable. If I’m ever in a bad mood my friends can always make me laugh and put me back in a good mood. Whenever i hangout with friends we always do something different and fun. We really like to go see movies that are playing at the local Tower Theaters, my favorite  time when we went to the movies was when we saw the Hunger Games. We went after school on a Friday and walked from our school to the commons. Before the movie started we went to Johnny’s which is where we always like to go out to eat and is always a lot of fun. When we were done eating some appetizers we went and say the movie it was an awesome movie and was a lot of fun to of gone and saw it with my friends and to of been able to spend that time with them. The times i of spent hanging out with my friends are memories i will keep with me for the rest of my life.

My IPhone and hanging out with my friends aren’t really similar at all. Theres not that many similarities that you could have with a person and a phone. But they are a little bit similar since with my IPhone I can use it to put me in a good mood if I’m ever in a bad mood by either listening to music or by playing fun and addicting games to get my mind off of whatever is bothering me. My friends can also do the same by making me laugh and talking to me so i can get in a better and more happier mood.  
My iPhone and hanging out with friends are very different. My iPhone is just an electronic device and then hanging out with friends is more important than just some device. Spending time with friends is when I can make memories that I will keep with me forever and I couldn't live without them. With my iPhone it is something that I could live without.

I value my iPhone and spending time with my friends for different reasons. I value my iPhone because it was something that I waited a while to get and it costed a lot of money. I value spending time with friends because it always great to make great memories and have fun times with them.
It's not always high priced things that are valuable. It can be things that happen everyday like spending time with family and friends and creating memories. Even though I enjoy having my iPhone I would rather spend time with my family and friends.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

IPhone and Friends Value


What is really important in life? What do people value more now a day’s, is it the high priced items with designer labels? Or is it the moments in our lives that are special to us? Both priced and the moments in life I value a lot. I think i value more the moments in life because spending time with friends and family makes great memories that you can keep with yourself forever. Like going to beach with your family and hanging out with friends. But I also value the priced items since you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that didn’t mean something to you.
It was in 5th grade when i got my first phone, i had that phone for about 2 years and got a new phone which was the iphone 3gs. When i got this phone it was so exciting to have gotten such an awesome phone. At that time the iphone 3gs was the newest iphone. But after a year of having that phone the new iphone 4 and the 4s came out. My iphone started to freeze and became really slow and also it did not have a front facing camera like the new iphone. So ever since the iphone 4s came out i was asking my dad to let me get the new iphone and i even was offering to pay for it myself. But he just wouldn’t let me and said it was a waste of money if i already had the iphone. After a long time of asking i just was gonna wait a little while to get a  phone and wait for the new iphone 5 to be released.
After a long time of waiting, the iphone 5 finally came out in September. I was so excited and wanted to go to the mall right away to get it. But my dad still wanted me to wait to get it. I was getting annoyed on waiting so long but i knew it was gonna be worth it when i would finally get the phone. It was about 2 months after the phone was released when my dad finally decided to bring me to get the IPhone 5. The cost of my phone was $200 even though it was a lot of money to spend on a phone it was completely worth it.
It was so exciting to have finally gotten the iphone and use all the different features it had compared to my old IPhone 3gs. I loved the new design of the iphone with a larger screen and having it be thinner and lighter. i really enjoy taking pictures on my phone cause it has such nice quality.

I always enjoy hanging out with friends and making memories. Its always great to look forward to the weekend after a long week in school and be able to hang out with friends. My favorite things to do with my friends is go to the mall. Also I like going to Johnny's with them and going to see a movie after eating is always fun to do. I always have sleepovers with my friends, its always fun to hangout with them, make memories and just always laugh.
My iPhone and hanging out with friends are very different. My iPhone is just an electronic device and then hanging out with friends is more important than just some device. Spending time with friends is when I can make memories that I will keep with me forever and I couldn't live without them. With my iPhone it is something that I could live without.
I value my iPhone and spending time with my friends for different reasons. I value my iPhone because it was something that I waited a while to get and it costed a lot of money. I value spending time with friends because it always great to make great memories and have fun times with them.
It's not always high priced things that are valuable. It can be things that happen everyday like spending time with family and friends and creating memories. Even though I enjoy having my iPhone I would rather spend time with my family and friends.