Whining Millionaires

With the end of the 2010 NFL season nearing completion, thoughts of next-year are already brewing. The National Football League Players Association, NFLPA, and the NFL have an agreement that is set to expire in March of 2011. Currently the "players get 59.6 of designated NFL revenues." However the owners opted out of this agreement, "arguing that they have huge debts from building stadiums and starting up the NFL Network have made a profit impossible." Both parties appear to be complaining about one simple thing, money and I, for one, am tired of professional athletes constantly whining for more and more money.

The minimum salary in the NFL is $285,000, but this amount increases as the player completes more seasons. The median salary of a person living in the United States is $48,201. Discussing a lockout of the 2011 season is ridiculous. All the NFL athletes are already overpaid, but the NFLPA still pushes for higher salaries. The leading figures of the union are acting no better than a spoiled child. If they don't get what they want, they pitch a huge fit and stage some sort of ridiculous, unrealistic protest. I am tired of these protests and want to see sports return to the good old days. These being where professional athletes wanted to entertain not receive ridiculous amounts of money for what eventually boils down to a simple game.

12 Sentence Short Story

Our future house was a vast wasteland full of mystery, full of excitement, full of nature in the middle of the city, and full of adventure. The woods in the backyard provided a new sense in my life: a sense of adventure filled my mind on one July day. Corbett, my childhood friend, and I decided to explore the woods in the back part of my future house. We descended into the woods, crossed a trash-strewn field, and went down a creek on that summer day. We hoped our parents would not notice our extended absence. Not quite. The thought that we were lost, and that we would crawl out of the woods late at night, and that our lives would be scared with the memory of our ordeal forever raced through the minds of our parents.. The growing worry could not be measured in anger, but the growing anger could be measured in worry. In our future, anger we did not see. Why would we be? However, after resurfacing hours later, we were bombarded with yelling and screaming and red faces and questions of our intentions. Even with the huge amount of ruckus we caused, our bravado about the adventure grew with time, thoughts about a repeat adventure surfaced and surfaced again, and the anger of our parents finally subsided--these are the memories of a great summer day.

An Explanation

For those in my English class, for those not in my English class, for those who do not ever talk to me, you have probably heard me make a negative comment at the Fox News. These smears probably give an aura of hatred for the "news" network. However, I only dislike the misnomer in the name and the widespread belief that Fox News is the most unbiased news network.

The misnomer in the name is ridiculous. Fox News is just as much of a news network as MTV or VH1. They both provide news with a plethora of other tidbits thrown in. Do not get me wrong, there is news on the channel, but that is not the end. All the hosts and guests provide numerous commentaries about the political scene. Watching the O'Reilly Factor, I have noticed that O'Reilly dismisses every guest with "thank you for your analysis." This shows that Fox News does not provide news but political commentary about the real news.

Fox News the most unbiased news network? That must be a joke for the very reason stated above. A commentary network cannot be unbiased, it is impossible. Sure the hosts can bring on guests of both parties, but that does not mean their opinions are equally listened too or shown. The fact is that Fox News provides almost strictly Republican commentary about various triumphs of the Republicans in office and the great failures of the virtually all Democrats in political office.

I hope this explanation will maybe help some people see the light, or maybe not. Just remember, this article is not a stab at anyone who watches Fox News. This is merely commentary on my personal beliefs and opinions on the network and why I do not watch.

3 Books I Would Like to Read

The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland tells the story of a young dutch boy during the Nazi occupation of Holland during World War II. This book intrigues me because of my interest in the second world war. I am currently reading a book set during this horrific period and I would like to read an account of the realities of the harsh winter. This book is not in our class library but I will probably buy the book or go to a library.

Catch 22 is another book that tweaks my interest. I have heard this book is really fun and would like to decide for myself if the book is as funny as claimed. This book also takes place during World War II which immediately makes me want to read the book.

A third book I would like to read is The Lightning Thief. I saw the movie based on this book during the summer and I would like to read the real story.

Annotated Bibliography 2nd Nine Weeks

Reading Reflection

After completing the first nine weeks of independent reading, I have made several notes about my reading habit. My reading habit, has not improved. However, I read rather habitually already. I also noticed I was having trouble, at first, writing in my reading journal. My earliest entries mostly consisted of trivial pieces of information with no depth at all. I have improved at this, somewhat but I believe I will continue to get better with time. My reading "diet," on the other hand has improved substantially. Normally, I read "candy" reads with no real literary importance with the occasional biography thrown in the mix. The diversification of my reading has caused my to read somewhat more analytically. The biggest difference, I have noticed, is the amount of questions that pop into my head while I read. I question the style, themes, and even the author's choice of words. Next nine weeks, I would like to make a better effort at journaling. I would also like to read more articles. I found that I really enjoyed reading about current events and would like to continue.

Socratic Seminar Reflection

Upon first hearing of our class's impending Socratic Seminar adventure, I had several reservations. I had doubts about the ebb and flow of the discussions, believing there would be periods of furious discussion and then stretches of silence. Reservations of my ability to make substantial preparations for the discussion also popped into my head. However upon the conclusion of my first discussion, I found that my ability to spring board off other students' ideas into my own was better than I first imagined. This kept the flow of the conversation moving along at a acceptable.

Brave New World has many deep, thought-provoking themes throughout. The Socratic Seminar prodded my brain into more analytically deep thinking about the themes and characters than I ever thought possible from the surface of the text. The discussion did not bless my mind with any new knowledge but gave my thinking a different direction. For example, in our discussion of the significance of Henry Ford as God, I was introduced to a more literal way of viewing the situation. I saw Henry Ford as the representation of scientific triumph just as God is our representation of cultural triumph. However, Andrea, viewed the situation more literally. Just as God created our world with his hands, Henry Ford manufactured the new society in Brave New World. Andrea redirected my thinking in an entirely way that had never crossed my mind before.

The discussions at the end gave me the most enjoyment and satisfaction. They seemed to be less structured and allowed the conversations to take a variety of twists and turns. This was best expressed when Sean, Natasha, Sadie, and I discussed the effect of mass production on individuality. Natasha challenged my ideas, giving me a way to enforce my own understanding of my ideas with the examples that came to mind as the discussion continued.

I found the Socratic Seminar to be a really fun and stimulating activity. However, I found the placement of the discussion group in the center of the room awkward. A feeling of judgments being passed filled the room. I do not see a better way to do this activity, however, and realize that this an individual problem that needs to be solved by the individual.

Abundance: Pink's View of America's Disease

Abundance, from Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind, attempts to open the workings of the human mind as he amusingly explains how America's obsession with frivolous material possessions has changed the mindset of the average citizen. The "triumph" of left-directed thinking has actually led to its own decreasing significance. People are more prone to right-directed thinking, such as "beauty", "spirituality", and "emotions." This irony means businesses can no longer produce rough looking items that serve a useful purpose. Items must also be unique and beautiful. Pink's most telling example of this humorously explains how Target has begun to carry designer wastebaskets. The left side of the brain says this is illogical and wasteful. However, the right side fights back, saying, all items must have good aesthetics. The change to more right directed thinking has actually led to the greatest paradox of our generation. People have more and more material possessions but are not any happier. Pink explains that "liberated by prosperity but not fulfilled by it--are resolving the paradox by searching for meaning." Practices once considered eccentric, such as yoga and meditation, are now becoming mainstream. Pink offers "one last--and illuminating--statistic:" Candles, once needed by the population too poor to afford light bulbs in the 20th century should be no longer needed. However, candle sales are a 2.4$-billion-a-year business. Pink's last pun along with all his other examples adequately explain the change in mindset of the American population as our generation has entered the 21st century.

Shared Responsibility

Anti-drug ads are becoming more and more commonplace in America. However, this ad has nothing to do with America or even Americans. This ad is almost exclusively targeted at Colombians and uses two of the three persuasive techniques to proclaim the true effects of Colombia's drug production.

The most obvious persuasive technique used is Pathos, or emotional appeal. This ad hits home immediately because kidnapping alone brings strong emotions in most, if not all, parents. The fear showing in the body language of the girl in the house gives goose bumps to a reader. I mean, what parent does not fear for the well being of his or her own child? No parents. Feelings of guilt are also coaxed out into the open in this strong ad. Past, or ever current cocaine users have or are funding the terrorist kidnappings currently ravaging the country of Colombia.

Instead of the usual celebrity or expert endorsement, this ad mixes things up a bit. The designers use ethos in a negative way. They portray a "business man" with only one giant nose. This symbolizes his use of cocaine to stay awake all night partying. This ad implies that any purchaser of cocaine is just as bad as the one holding the gun, as the man is holding an assault rifle. This negative ethos makes the reader not want to be like the "business man" in the picture.

Interestingly enough, logos is not used in this advertisement. Given that the creators have probably been trained in persuasive techniques for years, this is quite odd. However, the main target for this advertisement is a cocaine user. There are so many health warnings about drugs in the world today; any drug-user probably has lost all common sense. The picture is supposed grab the reader and captivate in a short time period, not burden their minds with health warnings.

This anti-drug ad has effectively used pathos and ethos to make a strong impression on any reader.

Present or Future?

Many people live in the now, that is they only think about what is currently happening and not about the future. This, I believe, is a problem. Too many people take for granted what we, people, have now and do not think about what would happen if these were lost. This past month, I read a novel that addresses just this.


In One Second after by William Forstchen, an Electromagnetic Pulse Device (EMP) is detonated over the United States, causing all electronics to fail suddenly. The reader follows a family in the mountains of North Carolina. In this book people have not taken necessary steps to live without technology. This causes massive "die-offs" where in some cities only 5% of the population survives.


While reading, I never understood the title of Forstchen's novel. Then, just yesterday, the meaning hit me like a brick. Just one second after a disaster of this magnitude occurs, the effects are immediate. All events that have occurred until this point become almost meaningless. One second after, the fate of the United States and the rest of the World is changed forever. One second after, the lives of millions of people are changed forever.

People should be living in a state of mind where the future is the most important part. This causes the one second after thought to be less dramatic and catastrophic as it was in One Second After.

Lottery???

Words are without a doubt the most important part of language. Communication without words would be nearly impossible. These words normally evoke certain feelings and thoughts in people. For example, in America football brings up thoughts of grown men crashing into each other. However, these thoughts are not always the only way to look at a word. Football in the rest of the world brings people thoughts of what Americans know as soccer. The interpretation and perception of words are explored in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.





In the realm created by Jackson, there is an annual lottery. When most people think of the lottery, certain thoughts. Images of people buying weekly tickets hoping to win exuberant sums of money. However from the beginning of the there are some oddities. The children start gathering stones and stuffing them in their pockets and pushing them into piles. Then Mr Summers, the lottery director, "soberly" announces the start of the lottery. These oddities are fairly minor and hard to notice during the first reading, however the story turns truly strange when a family is announced a winner. The wife Tessie Hucthison begins yelling that the lottery "wasn't fair." All these oddities eventually cause a horrifying realization that the lottery in this world is completely different from the lottery in our world.



This twist on the word "lottery" is refreshing. Jackson managed to take a word with a commonly perceived meaning and shown another way to percieve the word. "The Lottery" showed me how awesome stories can become if the perceptions of words are changed even thought the new perceptions still fall under the definition of the word. I encourage people to read the "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and become refreshed with a different perception of a common word.

Soccer in the States?

Soccer as a professional sport in the United States is, well let us just say, obscure. People everyday are surprised to learn that in America we have a professional soccer league. However, with the start of the World Cup, Americans everywhere have turned their attention to soccer, the most popular sport in the world. This attention has kept editorial writers everywhere busy, writing about how soccer is dull and over-hyped. One such article caught my attention. "Soccer Too Dull for America" by Daniel Kline, observed that soccer will never take hold in the United States television market and despite my love for the sport, I am inclined to agree with Kline.


"High level soccer involves almost no scoring and very few shots on goal." These words spoken by Kline are essentially true. Unfortunately, this lack of scoring and shots is boring to most American viewers. These viewers are accustomed to the high-scoring sports of football, basketball, and even baseball.


Common misconceptions about soccer also seem to prevent average viewers from watching. Most Americans seem to believe that soccer has "limited physical contact" and the games are very slow paced. These are absolutely false, but do keep viewers away from soccer games.


"The United States will never be Brazil or Italy where the fortunes of the national soccer team set the tone for the nation." I believe this thought by Kline is completely true. People will continue to not watch soccer, or even soccer's biggest event, the World Cup. The United States Soccer Federation will have to continue living in a country where soccer will never be as popular as football, baseball, basketball, or even hockey.

Annotated Photo

Who I am as a reader, writer, and person. Click to learn more.

Of Mice and Men Analysis

Analysis of Detail

From his first paragraph, John Steinbeck sets the scene of Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery as he describes the natural world as a parallel to later events in the novella.

The quote "the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green," can be used to find descriptions of the characters. "Green" is often used to describe someone or something that is full of life, naive, and young. The word "deep" can show something to be strong and solid. These words can be used to describe the main characters of Steinbeck's novella. Lennie is very young and full of life. He is also very very naive. George, on the other hand, is very smart. In fact, he is smart enough for the both of them. George is also very deep in thought.

Another sentence containing the words "strong", "rocky", and "mountain" can be used to further describe the characters and foreshadow events to come. "Strong" means a person being physically or mentally tough. The use of this word can describe George or Lennie, as Lennie is physically tough and George is mentally tough. "Rocky" can be used to describe something that is unfinished or jagged. Lennie is very much rocky. He is not very bright and might have a mental impairment. A mountain normally symbolizes a challenge. I believe that the description of the mountain in the first paragraph most likely symbolizes there will be a challenge to overcome in Of Mice and Men.

The sentence, "under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp" can be used to symbolize the journey of George and Lennie. When leaves change color they fall of the tree and move on to a different place. George and Lennie embark on a similar journey. Their lives change so they must move on to a different place, which in this case is the ranch. Steinbeck's use of imagery and foreshadowing are amazing.

After rereading the first paragraph, a reader realizes that George and Lennie are described as well as certain events in the future.

Analysis of Point of View

The third-person objective point of view accentuates the differences between each character through descriptions of their traits.

The quote from page 37 of the novel states that "Curley seemed really to see George for the first time. His eyes flashed over George, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle" when he encountered George in the bunkhouse. Curley was a small man and had self-confidence issues, forcing him to put on a tough front. He looked over George to see how big he was in comparison. George also happened to be small, this making Curley feel relieved and more at ease when talking to him.

"[Crooks] kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs." (pg 67) As also stated in the passage Crooks was "proud" and "aloof." These quotes from Of Mice and Men shows that Crooks, the stable buck, knew he was different from everyone else. Keeping out of the way of the other ranch workers' was the only way Crooks knew of to keep his pride. Third person allows people to see the differences in Crooks, because their are no personal point of views to give a racist perspective in Steinbeck's novella.

Without the descriptive passages regarding these characters in third-person objective, their characters would not be as defined as they are found in Of Mice and Men.

Analysis of Tone

Steinbeck constructs brilliant passages of remorse and longing to characterize Lennie.

Lennie has no control over his immense strength. This immense strength and lack of control causes him to hurt just about anything and everything Lennie touches. This passage from page 87 shows that Lennie really feels bad about the bad deeds he does. After the puppy's death Steinbeck makes references to the puppy using words like "sadly" and "woe", showing Lennie's great remorse for his act of treachery.

"An' live off the fatta of the lan'," Lennie shouted. Lennie shouts at George to tell a story that he has no doubt heard many times before. This part and others from the passage of page 14 show how Lennie longs for the rabbits and the house. They give him something to hope for in the future.

Lennie's strength conflicts with his personality to create a very interesting character in Steinbeck's novella.

Analysis of Theme

Whether faced with a disabled relative or a homeless person on the street most people have faced the question, "Am I my brother's keeper." This idea is explored in Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men.

For no feasible reason, George takes care of Lennie, and even when Lennie offers to leave, George says "I want you to stay with me, Lennie." (pg. 13) Without Lennie, George's life would be undoubtedly easier, but something makes George feel an obligation to stay with him. Throughtout the the novella, George gives various reasons for staying with Lennie. "Your aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead," shows that Lennie probably has no relatives that want to have anything to do with him. (pg. 13)

When Lennie and George finally make their way to the ranch, the boss asks George "Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is." (pg. 23) George stumbles around this question and lies to the boss, saying that himself and Lennie are cousins. Even though George and Lennie share no relatives, George feels his situation is easier to explain if he tells people himself and Lennie are cousins. This shows that George has no real reason to take care of Lennie, especially if he has to lie to make the situation easier to explain.

"Of Mice and Men" shows that humans should be responsible for looking out for one another even if there is no feasible reason for doing so.

Animals as Humans

In the novel, Animal Farm George Orwell chooses to use animals as the main characters as opposed to humans. This substitution makes the parallels to Stalinist Russia less obvious. Orwell most likely wanted to avoid being hated by many Russian people for his satirical work. Humans might have also taken the book as an insult to their race. I mean, humans being under the rule of animals and rebelling sounds pretty offensive.

The effectiveness of Orwell's use of animals in Animal Farm is varied. The substitution does prevent people from becoming offended by the satirical nature of the novel. The animals also have very human-like characteristics. Sometimes, the ruse is so believable a reader forgets he or she is reading about animals. On the down side, the animals make Orwell's work seem more like a fable than a satire. Most people, upon reading, would view this work as simply a fable instead of the great work Orwell's novel truly is.

Is Orwell's use of animals effective? The answer to this sometimes difficult question can only really be answered by the reader.

The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry gives and interesting perspective on how a utopia could work. With Lowry's great presentation of moral issues and thought provoking ideas, I found myself addicted to her book.

The themes of The Giver are very complex. The "community" as it is called has many moral issues, of witch most people are oblivious. The possibility of a utopia is also explored.

Lowry's characters are not well described, however this does not matter. A principle theme of the book is that all the characters are more or less the same and differences are not mention. Given that the book is from the point of view of a "community" member, people are not described.

The Giver is set in a futuristic Utopian community. All parts of the community life are controlled to a point were accidental deaths are very very rare. Genetic engineering has made all members of the community more or less the same. This setting gives Lowry's novel an interesting feel, as it is so different.

Jonas is an eleven in the "community." His ceremony of the twelve is coming shortly and Jonas is becoming nervous. The ceremony of the twelve is the time when a child is assigned his or her career for the rest of his or her life. Jonas is not nervous he will not get his desired job, as people take extensive notes on the children to ensure the right selection. He is more apprehensive about what his career will be. Then when his turn comes to be given a career, the announcer skips. This seemingly clerical error leads Jonas into a life that he never expected to have or even knew existed.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. For kids, the plot is simple and easy to understand. For adults, the plot provokes many moral conversations and thoughts.

Dorothea Lange Photograph

The Migrant Mother photos taken by Dorothea Lange stir a wide range of feelings. The first thought that comes to mind is amazement at the horrible living conditions. I never imagined that someone could live with 3 children in such a destitute environment. I also feel sorry feel sorry for the poor family. Having taken place in the Great Depression, the plight of the family was most likely not their own fault but the fault of a crashing world economy. This photograph also makes me wonder. I wonder if people still live in such conditions, even now in the 21st century, the century of rapid growth of technology.

Mask I Wear

I wear a mask that shades and hides
The blankness that shows is but lies
Underneath lies a person who cries and smiles
A person who has emotions hidden by human scrutiny
This fact makes most want mutiny

The happiness I show is not all lies
But not all that dwells but not all that lies beneath the mask that belies
I have emotions that lie below
However, these are not the ones that show

I live in fear to show myself
A fear that others have besides this one self
I wish to leave this fear behind
But I cannot escape the evil that confines

Cross Examination

Mom: "We are going to clean out your closet today."
Me: "Ugh"

We go down into my room and open my closet door.

Mom: "What is all this stuff!?"
Me: "I told you"
Mom: "Why is there a box of empty soda bottles and what is the deal with the piles of sheets?"
Me: "Like I said before, I told you."
Mom: "This closet is horrible. I mean you have boxes from when we moved."
Me: "So."
Mom: "We moved six years ago."

She digs deeper.

Mom: "So this is where all of suitcases went."
Me: "I didn't feel like taking them back upstairs.
Mom: "Why are there power tools in here?"
Me: "Dad gave them to me, and I didn't know what to do with them."

Mom: "I quit. You can do this yourself, or never. I don't even care anymore."

All people have things to hide.

The Sun (modeled after Red Wheelbarrow)

people every where
depend

upon you for his
or her

own strength
yet

they fear your
rays

Celebrate

I recently was confirmed into my church. This is a great cause for celebration, because I have become a more active member of my church.



Confirmation, for those of you who do not know, is a renewal of your vows to God. You have already made these vows at your baptism, but your parents made them for you. In other words, confirmation is a re-baptism. In our church, a bishop is the only person who can confirm people into the church. Since the Bishop of Arkansas only comes to our particular church once every other year, confirmation does not happen very often. I am also my parents first child to be confirmed into our new church.

Confirmation may not be a great cause for celebration for other people, but for my family and myself it is.

St. Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day is a very interesting Catholic feast day, that has made its way into American culture. However, I have never viewed St. Patrick's Day as a real holiday. I wore green some years, but never thought about the day as a symbol of anything. Therefore, St. Patrick's Day has no real meaning to me.



Some people think about luck, some think about parties, while some think about the actual saint on this feast day. I do not think about any of these things. I do not really believe in luck, I do not have parties on St. Patrick's Day, and I do not know anything about the saint. I have lived my entire 16 years, believing St. Patrick's Day was a fun holiday, where people wear green.



This has never really affected my life, until today. I heard a story about my English teacher's connection to St. Patrick's Day. Her daughter had a heart defect, and my teacher remember St. Patrick's Day as a symbol of the luck she had to survive. I heard another account from a friend. She is Catholic and to her, St. Patrick's Day is the day to honor a great person. These stories made me realize that I felt jealous for all the people who view St. Patrick's Day or any other holiday, as a symbol for something good.

The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City is an amazing book that shows how The Great Expedition in Chicago was built and how a criminal mastermind uses the fair to lure his victims in to his clutches.

Erik Larson does an excellent job with his book. The book is written using actual excerpts from letters, press releases, and police statements. This makes Larson's style very unique and appealing, at least to me.

The characters in The Devil in the White City are very realistic. We learn what goes through their minds as they make decisions that affect the the greatest worlds fair ever. The characters make the book better, however they are certainly not the best part of an amazing novel.

Picture the 1890's boom town of Chicago, where crime and the upper-class live together in a mass jungle of metal. This is the setting of Larson's novel. The setting is not very well described as a whole, but the portions are well described. The setting, as were the characters, make the book better, but is still not the best part.

Chicago has been given the task or creating a world's fair to rival that of Paris' two years before. This already monumental task is made harder by the time period given to complete the project, two years. We follow the architects as they desperately try to finish the fair that will make Chicago in time. As all this is happening a handsome young man rolls into town. With him a shaky past. We follow this man as he goes on a disturbing killing spree, using the fair as his bait.

I would recommend this book to any history lover. The use of excerpts of actual documents is appetizing to the mind of any history buff. I would also recommend this book to non-history lovers who just love good books.



This book is 447 pages.

Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London is a very interesting tale told from the perspective of a sled dog. London's novel, considered a classic by some, started slow, but soon had me hooked.

Learning when to stay obedient is a main theme in London's book. Buck, the main character, struggles with this at first, but is forced to learn. Taking a stand is another major theme of the novel. Buck, has to deal with a major oppression problem. He deals with the problem by standing up to the leader of the pack. This stand results in a terrific battle for power.

The writing style of Jack London, especially in this book, is very interesting. London does a very good job of telling the story through the eyes of a dog. This feat makes the style of the novel better than most books told from the perspective of a dog.

The characters in The Call of the Wild are mostly dogs. However, the characters are still interesting. Even though the only dog that we hear is Buck, all the dogs have their own personality. Some are silly, while others are very mean and oppressive like Spitz, the first leader of the dogs. There are humans in The Call of the Wild as well. They have independent personalities but they are not described as well. Although the characters do not make the novel, they add to the book significantly.

The Call of the Wild is set in the Canadian North. The setting is well described. Buck tells what he sees as he travels on the dog trails. The settings could be described in greater detail, however the descriptions could ramble on if written by someone other than London.

The best part of London's novel is the plot. Buck is a very faithful dog who lives a very peaceful life. However, this is all changed one night. One of his masters helpers steals Buck and sells him as a sled dog. Buck is launched into a very different lifestyle and struggles to survive. However, Buck comes out of the experience and becomes a very good sled dog. However a strange feeling overcomes Buck throughout the book and makes Buck decide how to live the rest of his life.

The Call of the Wild is a very good short story for anyone. However, there are several disturbing scenes that younger children may find scary. Besides this, I would recommend this book to everyone.



This book is 78 pages.

Persuasion

Persuasion has become a very important part of my life and I have become very skilled in the art because of this use. To persuade, I most often use the technique of logos, or logic. I convince people that my logic is correct and I get my way. This use of persuasion has shaped my life. I would not have or have done many things in my life. I also like to use ethos, or to persuade.I also see persuasion used in everyday life by other people. These people are not only real but also are television characters. These characters use all the different techniques of persuasion in a variety of situations.

Being a Winner

Being a winner means that you have won competitions or events. However, this does not mean a reward is received. Sometimes winners only receive a pat on the back instead of a trophy of money. In my opinion, a true winner is someone who can win without receiving and actual award. People who get mad if they do not win a award are not true winners.

In my life, I am most proud of winning an event at an FBLA convention last year. I won an event in which I had no prior knowledge of until I decided to compete. This makes me very proud because I had to study and learn lots of information to the do well in the competition. I did not receive any money, but only a small plaque. However I was still very proud to win the competition.

Olympic Commitment

Olympic athletes make huge commitments to their sport. They give most of their valuable time to training or competing. I have not made a commitment at that grand of a scale, but I have made a commitment of my time to a sport.

I play soccer and have made a pretty size able commitment to the sport. I have practice every day from the end of school to 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I have also committed my Friday and Tuesday nights to games, home and away. This takes away valuable homework and free time that I would like to have, but give up because I love soccer. Not only is my weekday time committed, running and practice is encouraged during the weekends and breaks from school.

My commitment is not as intense and severe as that of an Olympic athlete. However, I give a fairly size able commitment of my time especially for a teenager.

Enough Already

After a full year in office, many people are starting to write President Obama off as a bad president. I, for one, am sick and tired of these allegations. The only thing Obama has done wrong is not end one of the worst economic situation in American history, not fixed the nation's health care problem, and not ended the current war.

People in our time all want instant gratification. Wanting instant gratification, leads to no patience. This lack of patience has cause most of America to become a critic of President Obama. I would like to see the critics come in and fix all the problems of the current age in a single year. My guess is they cannot and would be facing the same criticisms as Obama is today.

Some people may argue that with a completely democrat run congress, fixing all the problems should be easy. These people are wrong. Writing bills and brainstorming the best solutions takes time. Time that President Obama has not had.

Patience, a virtue, will cause people to realize that the president is not a horrible leader, but has problems to fix that take longer than a measly year. With patience the people will also see how good President Obama will be for the United States in the years to come.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

Have you ever wondered what a modern-day knight would look like? Well, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfredd Kropp by Rick Yancey answers this question. Within the pages of the book lies a amazing adventure story for the ages.

Yancey's novel portrays one basic theme troughout, no matter how bad you mess up, you can always fix the problem.

Rick Yancey does a pretty good job with his characters. Most seem like they could be real people, except the present-day knights. The characters do not all have great qualities, as is typical with some other books. Some are greedy, some are dumb, and some could care less about the problems of others. The characters do not make the book for me, but they do help contribute to the greatness of the novel.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp is set in many places around the world. The story shifts from the highways of the northeastern United States, to Montreal, to London, and even to Nashville, Tennessee. The places Alfred spends significant time in are described better than the places that appear only briefly. The well described places are easy to picture but not so much for the other places. However, this tends to happen in any book and does not take anything away from Yancey's novel.

The plot of Yancey's The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp has many twists and turns. Alfred Kropp, the screw up, has no parents and has been sent to live with his uncle. Eventually, Alfred's uncle is approached by a wealthy business man with a task. The uncle sees this as money in the bank but Alfred begins to question the legality of the task. Reluctantly, Alfred agrees to go along with the plan, hoping not to mess up, as he has done with the rest of his life. What happens next, launches Alfred into a modern-day tale of knights, fast cars, and magical swords.

The theme of taking a stand fits very nicely into the plot of this novel. Alfred Kropp has to overcome fear, jealousy, and anger to stand up for what he believes is the right thing to do. Alfred Kropps' stand, like so many others, completely changes history. His example of taking a stand is the kind that everyone wishes they could do, but few people have the oppurtunity or even courage to do.

This book is like no other I have ever read. The plot is completely orginal and very different from other books in the same genre. I can not really relate to this book on a personal level, but mostly because I have never been on an awesome adventure like Alfred Kropp.

I would recommend The Extraodinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp to anyone and everyone.

This book is 339 pages.

Others Taking a Stand

History is full of examples of people taking a stand for what they believe is right. These stands have caused history to change in many ways and are extremely important. I believe one of the most important stands ever taken in American history was the English colonists standing up to the powerful English government.

I will not go into great detail as this chain of events is arguably the most important in American history, but the colonists in the present-day United States took a stand against the English government. They boycotted English goods, opposed taxes, and sent representatives to the English government. This caused the powerful King George to send an army to keep the peace in the colonies. Once again, the colonists took a stand and fought the armies, and the rest, as they say, is history.

This stand affected so much then and now. The colonists gained the freedom to create their country. However, even greater effects were still to come. This stand set an example for other oppressed people to take a stand including the french middle class and the African Americans of the United States of America


Without this great stand, the country we know and love today would not exist.

By the way, I know this is an extremely overdone and cheesy topic.

Taking a Stand

Taking a stand for what you believe is right is not always easy. In fact, taking a stand is sometimes the hardest thing a person can do in his or her life. However, after taking stand, most people receive a great boost in his or her personal bank account.



On occasion I have had to take a stand for members of my own family. One such occasion occurred several months ago. I was with a close family friend and he began to talk about my sister Anna in a very negative way. After a few minutes of jokes about her mannerisms and intelligence, I told him to stop talking like about my sister like that. Hearing my outburst, he decided to stop and we continued having a fun afternoon.



This small stand for my sister compelled the close friend never really talked about my sister in that way again. The stand also had another effect, I felt like a better person for the rest of the day.