Thinking Different.

When someone steps out of the box and behave in an “unconventional” or “unacceptable” way, people do not accept their decision and they are rejected. In this video Don Haskins decides to take a African American,” Black”, player onto his team. This demonstrates that Don was different from most coaches at that time. He decided to take in a “black” player when no one else was willing to do so. At that time there were no interracial teams and he was about to make that change. Don decision is very important think different because everyone else had an all whites team and blacks were not allowed to play. This is similar to “Into the Wild.” because Chris McCandless decides to live in the wild; something the society thought was unconventional. This did not stop him from leaving; he was determined to prove to society that they were not living life to the fullest.     

Overcoming Obstacles

Everyone has problems. There are many problems someone has to overcome. Many of these problems are small but to someone who is facing them it may seem like the biggest obstacle they have yet faced. For example there was one problem that I had to overcome when I was a child. The problem was with my mom’s side of the family and the way they treated me. They would always consider and view me as the black sheep of the family (even though at the time I was only 8-9 years old but they still consider me the black sheep). They did not want me around and I could tell by the way they treated me. Everything I did was wrong and nothing I ever did could be right. There was once a time when I used to talk to my cousin. She was nice and she was a good friend (or at least that’s what I thought).

The day that everything started to make sense was when i attended a party. I was talking to my cousin. We had decided to play tag. We were playing for most of the party and everything seemed to be going very well and then her mother called her over. Her mother told her to go inside the house and to stay there. So I was left alone. I told my mom, “Mommy, she doesn’t want her to play with me.” “That’s not true she probably has to go do something inside that’s all. I bet she does want to play with you.” “Her mom doesn’t want me around her.” “Do not think that she probably just wants her to do something important and that’s why she called her.” “Ok mom.” Then when she came back out i went over to her and she just ignored me. “Why don’t you want to talk?” “I’m not supposed to talk to you, my mom told me not to” “what why?” “She just told me not to, so can you go away and leave me alone.” “Ok I will leave.” So I walked away and she went over to her brothers. Her brothers would always talk badly about me. They would always think more of themselves. When I would walk by them they would throw what ever they found laying by they would mostly be rocks or pebbles. Every time they would laugh as they threw the rocks at me and she would join in and laugh at me too. Sometimes I just wanted to throw something back at them but I couldn’t.

They would always ostracize me. In their eyes i was no good. They would always put me down. Even the adults would act like childern at times. They wouldnt want any of their chidern to be around me. When i was having fun it was wrong, so they would always find a way to make the fun for me end. My parents were blind and they never saw what they did to me. When ever I told them they would tell me to deal with it or that I was imagining things because they were good children. My parents thought nothing of my words, they still think this way. Nothing was going my way. Every party or every family event i went to it would be the same ordeal. My moms family didnt like me and i couldnt change that. I would always think that it was my fault that they didnt like me. I thought i did something wrong. Their words and their hate were getting to me. I had to stop but this obstacle was very hard to overcome. I didnt get over this obstacle until i got to middle school.

Once I got to my middle school year I put my foot down. I was done listening to them and what they had to say. I didn’t care that they didn’t like me. They tried to make me go to Maxson and not Hubbard but they couldn’t convince me I refused to go to the same school they were going to. I finally got to let my feelings out and tell them that they had no right to tell me what to do. They were shocked at the fact that I actually talked back to them; I thought it was inevitable; I was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. At that moment they had nothing else to say so I got up and walked away with dignity. My parents even thought it was a good idea to go to Maxson but I refused to go to that school. And they decided to actually hear me out and let me go to Hubbard.

Once I got into Hubbard, I felt like it was going to be a big change with the fact that I actually stood up to my mean cousins and the fact that I was going to a new school. So in the end I over came my obstacle, even if it did take a few years. I stood up to my cousins, even though they still look down at me, but I learned to actually forgive and forget whatever they said in the past ,even though I will never be able to trust them.  They sometimes try to talk to me now and make up for what they did in the past, but I think its no use considering the fact that the things they did in the past actually made my life horrible at times. Considering all they did I believe it only made me stronger and wiser and I thank them for that because I wouldn’t want to be like them or even be friends with people like that. I’m grateful that obstacle was put on my path it has made me the person I am today and it has made me a greater person and brought me great friends I know wont treat me as bad as my family. Obstacles are hard to face but you can overcome them if you are determined enough. Obstacles only make you stronger.        

VALENTINES DAY!

 The history Valentine’s Day is all based off a man named valentine, St. Valentine to be specific. St. Valentine was a cleric who unified people in holy matrimony. At that time Claudius II was in power. Claudius II believed that marriage made the men, who were to go off to war, weak. He believed it made his men weak because they became too attached to their wives which would distract them from their duties. So he decided to make marriage illegal at the time. St. Valentine felt bad for the men, so he decided to perform secret marriages. He knew that in time he would be caught and when that day came he was arrested. After being arrested he was killed for acting against the emperor’s order; but before he was killed it is said that St. Valentine fell in love with the guard’s daughter. And before being executed he wrote a letter to her stating “From your Valentine.” He was killed February 14. From this legend February 14 has become Valentines Day.

The advice I have for the people in a relationship is that they have to be fully committed to the person they are with. They can not just back out before a holiday or before they meet the other person’s family. Also the people in the relationship should get to know the other person very well; if they know the other person is not a Monday person they should just back off a little on Mondays before they end up single. People should try to stay connected during spring break and they should stay faithful so they won’t break up other a spring break “romance”. So people should just control their hormones and actually feel something for the other person so the relationship will last. 

Personification

Personification gives inanimate objects human properties or qualities.







Monday is never willing to get out of bed. She is always gloomy and boring. Everything is a drag for her. She is always lazy and mundane. She is always the party pooper. She is a downer. She is always wants to be alone but the rest of the group needs her. 

Tuesday is very calm. She doesn’t do much. She just sits in the corner quietly. Nothing bothers Tuesday. Tuesday is very close with Monday and Wednesday. She doesn’t like to make a scene. She likes to keep it professional. She likes to work. She does everything discretely.

Wednesday loves to be in between everything. She never likes to get in trouble. She never likes picking a side but she loves to be in everyone’s business. She is a gossiper on the down low, even though she never spreads rumors in order to remain neutral. Wednesday is everyone’s friend.

Thursday likes to plan everything. She will usually be the one who plans all the parties but she never gets to enough the party to the fullest because she likes to leave once the party is getting started.

Friday is the best friends with Saturday. They are the life of the party. Friday loves to be crazy and wild. He loves to hit the club. He always starts the party. He is the one who brings the joy and happiness. He is a people person, everyone he meets he charms.

Saturday needs Friday in order to keep the party rolling. She loves to stay up late and she thinks life should be lived to the fullest. She believes that there might not be a tomorrow so everything she does she never regrets. Some people are against Saturday’s way of living but she just thinks hater be hatin’. Saturday loves to go out and live her life.

Sunday is very laid back. He never gets involved with anyone but he will always be there to keep everything going. He loves to relax. Sometimes, he likes to party with Saturday. Sunday is a great guy to hang around with. He is always there for you and will never leave the group hanging. He keeps the group united and he keeps them going.

Metaphors and similes!

Fifth of July

My family is an expired firecracker
set off by the blowtorch of divorce. We lay
scattered in many directions.
My father is the wick, badly burnt
but still glowing softly.
My mother is the blackened paper fluttering down,
blowing this way and that, unsure where to land.
My sister is the fallen, colorful parachute,
lying in a tangled knot, unable to see the beauty she
holds.
My brother is the fresh, untouched powder that
was protected from the flame. And I,
I am the singed, outside papers, curled away
from everything, silently cursing
the blowtorch.

By: John

Metaphors are a comparison between two unlike things without the use of like or as.

Metaphors are important to writing because metaphors can be used to compare two things to each other and they make something more descriptive. They help in making imagery and getting a message across.

The tone of this poem is sad and lonely.

The mood of the poem is depressing.

The meaning of this poem is to describe how this person feels when their parents were going through a divorce and how it just made his life a weird situation he was now lonely without his parents together.

A Love Poem 

Your love is like a blanket
that keeps me toasty warm.
Your love is like a shield
that protects me from all harm.
Your love is like a chocolate bar,
velvet-smooth and sweet
Or like some comfy house slippers
that hug my tired feet

You hold me like an easy chair
when I’m too weak to stand
Imbue me with your steadfast faith
by just holding my hand
Your eyes express devotion,
profound and true and deep
Your heartbeat’s like a lullabye
that beckons me to sleep

You permeate my memories
Romance from days long past
You underwrite my future
with a love that’s made to last
I need you more than words can say
My heart is sure and true
I’m yours until the end of time
Like, baby, I love you

 Similes are a comparison between two unlike things using like or as.

Similes are important because they also help out in imagery and they help in expressing the authors view on things.

The tone of the poem is love and togetherness.

The mood of the poem is happy and dependability.
The meaning of this poem is that this person is describing how the love of another person makes them feel and how dependent they are of that person, as in life with out them would be empty and lonely.

Did the effort make a difference?

People have lived through many events of injustice and there have been a few brave people who have had the courage to stand against the injustice and make a difference, the difference in which we live today. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. at the last speech he would ever give stated, “... I may not be there with you but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promise land.” What he meant with these words is that even though he might not be there when the change has occurred he knows and has faith that it will occur. He had a feeling he would no longer be present to witness his work pay off. All of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. work has succeeded but not completely.

Dr Martin Luther king Jr. believed that everyone was equal and he died trying to fight for what he believed was right. If he walked into our school tomorrow he would say that he could not be any more proud of the fact that schools and life is now a inter racial society. If he saw what we do with our civil rights he would be disappointed. He would be disappointed because he would see that people in our school take their civil rights for granted and do not take advantage of the opportunities they have. He would just look at the generation of today and be ashamed to see that all his work was wasted but he would be happy to see people now accepting each other not by the color of their skin but the content of their person.

Martin would be proud of me. He would see that I am actually taking advantage of the privileges I have today. He would see that unlike everyone else in the school there are people that do not take things for granted and appreciate the fact that people gave their lives up just so we could live in a better society. He would be happy to see a community in which people no longer categorize as white and colored people. He would be disappointed to see people making their selves look like idiots by wearing there pant under the regular standard. To see people being racist and hating one another. To see people in gangs and to see people killing each other.

Even tough the world is not perfect martin would be proud to see that his efforts actually made a difference. He would see that people do not discriminate each other like before. Black and whites now marry each other and have a big happy family. All the people that have fought for the rights we have today would be proud to see that they actually made a difference. They made the world a better place.

                                                                                                             

Hyperboles a tool of literature.

Hyperbole- is a exaggeration in which a statement is stretched and not to be taken literally 

Hyperboles are an important part of writing because they emphasis the meaning or the literature and it also helps in developing the feeling of the literature

 Television by Roald Dahl

The most important thing we've learned,

So far as children are concerned,

Is never, NEVER, NEVER let

Them near your television set --

Or better still, just don't install

The idiotic thing at all.

In almost every house we've been,

We've watched them gaping at the screen.

They loll and slop and lounge about,

And stare until their eyes pop out.

(Last week in someone's place we saw

A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)

They sit and stare and stare and sit

Until they're hypnotised by it,

Until they're absolutely drunk

With all that shocking ghastly junk.

Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,

They don't climb out the window sill,

They never fight or kick or punch,

They leave you free to cook the lunch

And wash the dishes in the sink --

But did you ever stop to think,

To wonder just exactly what

This does to your beloved tot?

IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!

IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!

IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND

HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND

A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!

HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!

HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!

HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!

'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,

'But if we take the set away,

What shall we do to entertain

Our darling children? Please explain!'

We'll answer this by asking you,

'What used the darling ones to do?

'How used they keep themselves contented

Before this monster was invented?'

Have you forgotten? Don't you know?

We'll say it very loud and slow:

THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,

AND READ and READ, and then proceed

To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!

One half their lives was reading books!

The nursery shelves held books galore!

Books cluttered up the nursery floor!

And in the bedroom, by the bed,

More books were waiting to be read!

Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales

Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales

And treasure isles, and distant shores

Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,

And pirates wearing purple pants,

And sailing ships and elephants,

And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,

Stirring away at something hot.

(It smells so good, what can it be?

Good gracious, it's Penelope.)

The younger ones had Beatrix Potter

With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,

And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,

And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-

Just How The Camel Got His Hump,

And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,

And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,

There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole-

Oh, books, what books they used to know,

Those children living long ago!

So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Then fill the shelves with lots of books,

Ignoring all the dirty looks,

The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,

And children hitting you with sticks-

Fear not, because we promise you

That, in about a week or two

Of having nothing else to do,

They'll now begin to feel the need

Of having something to read.

And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!

You watch the slowly growing joy

That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen

They'll wonder what they'd ever seen

In that ridiculous machine,

That nauseating, foul, unclean,

Repulsive television screen!

And later, each and every kid

Will love you more for what you did.

The tone of this poem is hatred or dislike towards televisions and the impact it has had on the children.

The mood of the story is aggravated and disappointed.

The meaning of this poem is that the imagination and the creativity of the children of today are being lost to the TV and that minds are being wasted due to the creation of the TV.

Jacinta Ramayah, Malaysia

THE OLYMPIC RUNNER (7 Oct 2009)

The sun beat down so hard it burnt his back,
His feet ate the dust as he ran the endless track,
The wind gave him wings and the miles flew by,
He was gunning for gold, for victory he’d die.

Critics had a field day when he entered the arena,
They could have knocked him down with a feather,
“Sideways you can’t see him through a 50-cent coin,
Bones on a cold carcass make up his manly loin.”

“His feet so long he will surely fall flat on his face,
Legs stretch down like two bamboo poles in place,
From the land of famine he gets not his daily bread,
If he wins, we’ll eat our hats,” in mockery they said.

As he touched the finish line, the crowd went wild,
Cheers heard across the land by every man and child,
His heartbeats so erratic they were beating out of time
If he could take a shot at his critics it’d be no crime.

Sweat streamed down, pooled like rivulets on the floor,
A warrior back from the battlefield, battered and sore,
Standing tall as a Brobdingnagian, the anthem sung
The joy so sweet, he could taste it on his tongue.

He was so tired he felt he could sleep for a year
The cynics struck dumb, had no cause to jeer,
‘A man in a million’ were the headlines that day
“Not a mere man but a giant in spirit,” they say.

                                                                       

The tone of this poem is determined and optimistic.

The mood of the poem is willful and improbable (all odds are against the runner)

The meaning of this poem is that even when no one is with you or has hope in you, you can still accomplish anything if you just have faith in yourself.