Monologue 2nd probably final draft

Memories Fears and Life

            Noreen is 21 and has long brown hair. A soft voice and blue eyes. She has no freckles on her face just a smirk. She had a black and blue North Face sweater on. Along, with jeans and a pair of low top socks. Noreen was in her room, sitting up in a curled up position, drinking a cup of tea.

A haunting memory

High school

Sophomore year English

Sister Joan

Many haunting memories there

Being asked “Did you as Today?”

Someone mentioned the verb was “as”

Sister Jones

Flipped out

On all of us

 

 I use to fear dogs

That was a scary one

are neighbor had a dog

named Cathie

all she wanted to do was play

all I wanted to do was run

screaming and yelling

as she came over

When I was younger

I was scared of Santa and the Easter Bunny

the fact that they were coming into the house

when I was sleeping

scared me

The night before they came

I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep

Because

some stranger was coming into the house

that would creep me out

I would be excited about the gifts though

But that definitely creeped me out

before I went to bed

Best experiences…….

Getting to wonder through the city

 During college

running around on the subways

One place to another

just have fun where ever you go

Interview

Liam Doherty class 807

Noreen Doherty

What is a memory of your childhood that you cannot forget, one that might haunt you or one that might bring you joy?

“A memory that brings me joy would be when I was told that I was having a little sister. I was sitting in my parents’ bedroom and they came in when I was five years old and asked me, “Guess what… we have a surprise.  Can you guess what it is?” and here I am thinking it could be that because we had been reading books about Arther finding out that he was having a little sister or something. So that was in the back of my mind. Then, being told that I was having a little sister jumping around screaming all the while because I hated being all by myself all day long, as the only child with no one to play with. Then after my sister was born I found out that we were having another baby.  So there you go two memories in the one go.”

“A haunting memory would be when I was in high school during sophomore year English with Sister Joan. There are many haunting memories there. Being asked “did you as today?” when everyone in the class wasn’t understanding what a verb was and someone had mentioned that the verb was “as” in the sentence.  Sister Joan flipped out on all of us. That would definitely be a haunting memory.”

What were your best and worst experiences as a young adult?  

“Best experiences…probably getting to wander throughout the city during college. I went to school a block away from Central Park that would be a spot that my friends and I would go wander through during our breaks between classes during the nice weather. We would go on the carousel and get lost wandering and have a lot of fun. We would also go throughout the city, just running around on the subways from one place to another. I guess having that ability to get around on your own would be a big highlight and just have fun where ever you go. Even if there is no end destination you’re just figuring out where you’re going.”

“Let’s see is there anything else?  Oh… driving, that’s a big one…especially upstate, even going to the supermarket. But, the one bad thing is being considered my brother’s personal chauffer to go to the water park whenever he feels like it.  Also, kayaking on the Hudson River as a family is a great experience. Especially when the big ships were coming and they would create these huge waves.  That was definitely very fun and scary at the same time. ”

What was your family like/what are some memorable moments you had with them?

‘”Well my family is very close and we went on a lot of trips. We always get in each other’s hair quite often. The pranks that we play on each other are memorable.  Even coming out of the cold and putting are cold hands  down the back of someone’s neck as they’re sleeping, doing work, or watching tv and getting to watching them jump up and squirm.  Also, pushing my brother into the pond off of the dock during the summer is memorable.  I get pushed back into the pond too."  

"When we went to Disney last January, on our last night at Magic Kingdom my brother and sister and I kind of went nuts. It was rainy and misty and the park was empty, we kept running from one end of the park to the other going on each and every ride. We were running around like crazy and trying not to tip over all the little kids that were half asleep and ready to tip over. That was a big highlight running around yelling Disney songs as loud as we could."

"I also remember that we were all very supportive of each other when we all entered projects we had done in school to a fair upstate. Once when I was handed my pictures in, the judge kept saying that they were horrible.   The whole car ride home my brother and sister were trying to cheer me up. They mentioned that we were going for ice cream and that they would do whatever I wanted because they wanted to cheer me up."

How did these events help you grow up?

"After my brother and sister were born I had a lot more responsibilities. I had to look out for them, make lunches for them when they were going to school. I got a motto from sister Joan’s class ‘If I survived her class I could essentially survive anything.’ Now if a class annoys me off or if I get scared about something I think about how I survived her class. The best experiences as a young adult helped me grow up because it gave me a sense of freedom and responsibility. Also, I get to be the knowledge source for getting around the city because no one knows how to read an MTA map. I guess the family experiences helped me grow up because they helped me through the hard times by trying to cheer me up. They are also the only ones who understand my insanity about Harry Potter and Disney."

What is something you feared? How did you get over it?

"I use to fear dogs. That was a scary one. Upstate are neighbor had a dog named Cathie. I forget what kind of dog it was. But this dog was always coming over and apparently all she wanted to do was play. Meanwhile all I wanted to do was run into the house screaming and yelling as she came over. I was petrified of her, petrified. I was afraid to go anywhere outside because the dog would always come over and start barking.  It would completely freak me out. I don’t know how I got over that.  Ya…I’m not sure how that came about. But, maybe I was too young to understand. We have a dog now, I’m not really scared of dogs now unless their big ferocious ones that live in backyards with signs saying “Beware of dog.”"

"I used to also fear talking in front of people, probably still do. Especially in a class setting that’s always been an issue. I’ve gotten better at it though…now I’m more comfortable. The problem is I care too much about what people think about what I’m saying. I usually just go in say what I don’t know because there is probably someone else in the class that has the same problem I have."

"When I was younger I was scared of Santa and the Easter Bunny…the fact that they were coming into the house when I was sleeping always scared me.  The night before they came I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because of the knowledge that some stranger was coming into the house. That that would creep me out as a little kid. I would be excited about the gifts though. But that definitely creeped me out before I went to bed.

We have a pond and I am always afraid of the little fishes nibbling at me. When I go swimming in it I try to stay and keep my body in the first foot and a half of water you can see in because everything swims below.  There might be a big bass that might want to nibble or something. Even the little Sunnies get me creeped out. But, I still jump in, it’s not a huge fear. I’m paranoid is more what it is like."

What were the most important moments in your childhood?

"There are a couple of them, we got the birth of my sister, then my brother was born and when I got a dog. I guess my whole middle school experience. That was a big chunk. Oh and figuring out I could draw that was a big one. We went to Disney when I was in seventh grade and in Hollywood Studios they had an animation tour of their facilities. And in one part of it they had us draw Goofy and when we were done I was the only one in the family that actually had something that looked like Goofy. So then in the gift shop there I got a “How to Draw Mickey Mouse and His Friends” book. After that I got completely hooked.  I bought other how to draw books from Disney. Then after doing that I realized I could print pictures from movies and draw them too."

"Another big thing was being able to read. I could not read until I was in third grade, it was pretty, pretty bad. I couldn’t read anything. I hated it until I got one of those Little Sister Babysitter Club books and all of a sudden I was completely hooked and went through that entire series real fast."

"Oh and how could I forget Harry Potter!   That was like a huge childhood moment just reading each and every one of those books. It was exciting. I couldn’t wait for the next book. Then, when I got the book I wouldn’t stop until I had finished it. There would be nothing that could distract me from finishing the book from the moment I got the book. Those books are a part of me…they were a huge part of everything."

How did that impact your life? 

"Let’s see, I think for a good part of middle school and high school, probably still do it now, I would use the characters as mentors. I would make comparisons to problems I was having to the problems the characters faced in the books. I guess I based my life around what they lived for:  loyalty, bravery, friendship, knowledge. I had so much fun with the fantasy and the adventure. Those books were completely thrilling."   

Independent Writing Project On Coming Of Age

 #6.          What is rebellion? Why do so many young people "rebel"? Is rebellion a necessary element of growing up?

               A rebellion is an organized resistance to authority, such as a government. A rebellion can also take place between a parent who is the authority and their kids, who would resist the parent’s authority over them. young people rebel because they are trying to be seen as more than a child. They are trying to gain more freedoms, so they can do what they want when they want. they are also looking for more responsibilities. Young people do this to gain more trust. Overall, a rebellion is an organized rebellion against an authority and so many young people do it to gain more freedom's, right's, and responsibilities.  

             I believe this is a necessary rebellion because in the end the kid will be more responsible and mature. They will be more responsible and mature because in the end they will have more responsibilities that they need to take care of. Rebellions are also a necessary to gain more freedom and trust in life. This is a good thing because it will help make you more respected as a person.

             People have rebelled throughout history for many different causes. For instance, the American Revolution where people rebelled against England to gain freedom from Britain. In the end of that revolution America became completely free of Britain and its power. So in the end the rebellion was a success. There has been many other rebellions throughout history that have made people and nations greater and more prosperous. Overall, rebellions are a necessary part of growing up as a person or as a nation.

Romeo and Juliet Revised Final Assignment

             In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  For instance, Friar Lawrence is a wise old man who gives Romeo and Juliet good advice throughout the story. On the other hand, Friar Lawrence didn’t think about the consequences of his actions, which makes him a flawed hero. So Friar Lawrence is a good wise man who doesn’t think his ideas through.

Friar Lawrence is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor. For instance, when Romeo goes to the friar for advice about love, the friar tells him he needs to be careful and slow. He also said, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast,” (II.iiii.91). The friar also gives Romeo advice after the fight with Tybalt. The friar tells Romeo to be a man and not let Juliet down by killing himself. The friar also gave Romeo three reasons to be happy: Juliet loves him, he is still alive, and the prince could have had him put to death, but exiled him instead. These examples show how the friar is a sage because they show that he is a wise man who helps Romeo when he doesn’t know what to do. The friar does this by telling Romeo to slow down be careful and thankful for what he has. So in all Friar Lawrence is sage because he is a wise man who guides Romeo throughout the story.   

Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. The friar made a plan with Romeo and Juliet that sounded good because he thinks it will end the feud between their families. The friar said, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89). What the friar didn’t think about was what would happen if something with his plan went wrong. For instance, how Romeo never got the letter from the friar saying that Juliet wasn’t dead, but sleeping. This one thing turned the friar’s whole plan from good too bad because Romeo killed himself thinking Juliet was dead and then Juliet killed herself since Romeo was dead. Overall, Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the negative effects of his plan if things went wrong.

Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because he was thinking of doing good but ended up doing something bad.  The friar believed in the power of love to solve problems and thinks Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will turn their “households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89).  When the friar’s plan was failing and Juliet was killing herself, the friar ran instead of helping Juliet like he helped Romeo. In all, Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because his plan to help Romeo and Juliet went wrong and he was too scared to stay and fix what he had done.

         In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  The friar is a sage because he is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor by giving him advice about his problems. The friar is also a flawed hero because he runs away when his plan fails and he is most needed. So, the friar is wise but flawed in his failed attempts to stop two families from more lose and suffering. Overall, Friar Lawrence is both a sage and a flawed hero archetype because he is wise, but doesn’t consider the outcome of his actions.  

Romeo and Juliet Final Assignment

In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  For instance, Friar Lawrence is a wise old man who gives Romeo and Juliet good advice throughout the story. On the other hand, Friar Lawrence didn’t think about the consequences of his actions, which makes him a flawed hero. 

Friar Lawrence is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor. For instance, when Romeo goes to the friar for advice about love, the friar tells him he needs to be careful and slow. He also said, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast,” (II.iiii.91). The friar also gives Romeo advice after the fight with Tybalt. The friar tells Romeo to be a man and not let Juliet down by killing himself. The friar also gave Romeo three reasons to be happy: Juliet loves him, he is still alive, and the prince could have had him put to death, but exiled him instead. These examples show how the friar is a sage because they show that he is a wise man who helps Romeo when he doesn’t know what to do.

Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. The friar made a plan with Romeo and Juliet that sounded good because he thinks it will end the feud between their families. The friar said, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89). What the friar didn’t think about was what would happen if something with his plan went wrong. For instance, how Romeo never got the letter from the friar saying that Juliet wasn’t dead, but sleeping. This one thing turned the friar’s whole plan from good to bad because Romeo killed himself thinking Juliet was dead and then Juliet killed herself since Romeo was dead. Overall, Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the negative effects of his plan if things went wrong.

Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because he was thinking of doing good but ended up doing something bad.  The friar believed in the power of love to solve problems and thinks Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will turn their “households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89).  When the friar’s plan was failing and Juliet was killing herself, the friar ran instead of helping Juliet like he helped Romeo. In all, Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because his plan to help Romeo and Juliet went wrong and he was too scared to stay and fix what he had done.

         In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  The friar is a sage because he is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor by giving him advice about his problems. The friar is also a flawed hero because he runs away when his plan fails and he is most needed. Overall, Friar Lawrence is both a sage and a flawed hero archetype because he is wise, but doesn’t consider the outcome of his actions.  

Romeo and Juliet Final Assignment Outline

I.          Introduction

            A.        Thesis:  In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.

                        1.         Friar Lawrence is a wise man who gives good advice to Romeo.

                        2.         Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions.

                        3.         Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because he was thinking of doing good but ended up doing something bad.

II.        Friar Lawrence is a wise man who gives good advice to Romeo.

            A.        Romeo goes to the friar for advice about love, and the friar tells him he needs to be careful and slow.

                        1.         “Women may fall when there’s no strength in men,” (II.iii.85).       

B.        The friar also gives Romeo advice after the fight with Tybalt. The friar tells Romeo to be a man and not let Juliet down by killing himself.

            2.         Friar tells Romeo he has three reasons to be happy.

a.       Juliet loves him

b.      Tybalt could have killed him

c.       The prince could have had him put to death, but he exiled him instead.

C.        Analysis of friar as sage.   

III.       Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions.

            A.        The friar made a plan with Romeo and Juliet that sounded good because he thinks it will end the feud between their families.

                        1.         “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89).

            B.        The friar didn’t realize that a small thing like the message not being delivered could cause desperate actions by Romeo and Juliet.

                        2. Romeo and Juliet kill themselves because Romeo didn’t get the letter.

            C.        Analysis of friar being a flawed hero.

IV.       Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because he was thinking of doing good but ended up doing something bad.

            A.        The friar believed in the power of love to solve problems.

                                    1.         The friar thinks Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will turn their “households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89).

            B.        The friar runs away when he is most needed.

                                    2.         The friar runs away when he hears a noise instead of staying to see if Juliet is all right, but he doesn’t and Juliet kills herself.

            C.        Analysis of how the friar fits both archetypes.

V.        Conclusion

A.        So in all in Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.

            1.         The friar is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor by giving him advice about his problems.

            2.         The friar is also a bit of a cowered because he runs away when his plan fails and he is most needed.

            3.         Overall Friar Lawrence is both a sage and a flawed hero archetype because he is wise, but doesn’t know when to be brave.  

Blog post due 4/18/13

In the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Brian, a 13 year old boy, crashes in a plane in the Canadian wilderness.  The author tells this story of a boy who must survive with only the clothes he had on and a hatchet. Brian was on his way to spend the summer with his father in Canada when the plane he was in went down. During Brian’s time alone in the woods he discovers he had a lot more strength to survive then he originally thought. For instance, when he goes looking for food and he finds berries, they make him really sick. He also shows a lot of strength when he survives several porcupine needles to his leg. After time, Brian learns how to survive in the wilderness by himself.  

A day after the crash Brian is starving and doesn’t know what to do. He decides to go for a walk to see if there is anything to eat around the lake. He walks around the lake and is going to give up when he finds a bush of berries. He is so hungry that he just started eating the berries right off the bush until he was full. That night he wakes up with a horrible pain in his stomach and throws up all the berries. This makes Brian a stronger person because it teaches him to be more careful of what you do and eat in the wild. After this Brian uses what he learned to wait until he found something, such as raspberries, that he knew he could eat.

One night Brian wakes up in the middle of the night because there is something coming closer and closer to him. Then something touches his leg so he decides to try and kick it. The creature was a porcupine and ends up sticking Brian with 8 quills in his leg. Brian is so scared and hurt that he is afraid to touch the wound or move in fear that the animal could still be there. In the morning Brian ends up going out of his little shelter to see the quills in his leg. He quickly decides to pull them out before the wound gets infected. This shows how strong Brian is because most people wouldn’t pull the quills out themselves.  Since Brian was all alone he had to face the challenges all by himself.

            In all brain shows a lot of strength after the plane crash. He was stranded in the middle of nowhere with just a hatchet and he survived. This story kind of reminds me of military training because that is exactly what some military branches do as basic training. Except the training doesn’t go on for 54 days like Brian had to.

March 21 Blog Post.

John, candidate 117, the commanding officer of the Spartan super soldiers, is faced with a new mission. One, which holds the fate of humanities future in its success or loose. If John and his man fail this mission the human race will be put into extinction by a new alien race seeking to destroy. That race is the covenant. But first John and his men must finish their training with one last mission, which no one Know what is going to happen in.

I feel that this mission is going to actually be a real mission not being controlled by the UNCS. I also predict that men will be lost. I believe this because Chief Mendez said “Project MJOLNIR will make the Spartans into something. . . new. Something I could never forge them into,” (Nylund122). This made me think that this mission was going to be real because he could never kill one of the Spartans to bring them together. That would forge something of them it would forge a team. If this was the case the death of the comrade not only would forge a team, but a strong brotherhood between the men.

I believe this would be the last mission in training because it would prepare the Spartans for the brutality of war. It would also prepare the Spartans for the hard part about war, Death.  Especially If a Spartan died on the mission because then it would be prepared for the death of one of their own. Another thing the Mission would prepare the Spartans for is being behind enemy lines like in real war without help. So the mission overall I feel is going to prepare all the Spartans for War.

If the mission is what I think it is then the mission will be especially useful for the Spartans leader, John. I think this because it will show him that men will be lost and there is nothing he can do about it except go on with the mission and not let them die in vain. Now John already knows how it feels to lose his men because after the experiment that enhanced his and the Spartans bodies he lost men. The experiment went wrong and men die. I think losing men in front of him on the battle field will be different and will really prepare him for war by teaching him to move on.

In all I feel that the final mission of training will prepare the Spartans for the brutality of war. I also believe that the mission will get the men ready for Death. It also will make John commanding officer of the Spartans a better leader by showing him that men will die and the mission still has to go on. Most of all though I believe this mission will bring the Spartans closer together as a team and as brothers.       

N.F. Post

          In the Article  Bioethics and cloning the author which wasn't given talks about how there is a big argument on whether or not Cloning is acceptable. groups have been made to disuse the topic and come up with questions for scientists.Those groups are called Bioethics. Questions are being raised about changing a babies  eye, hair, skin color, height and sex. today there are some countries that do not allow cloning to take place and others that do allow it. scientist still need to follow routine and make sure what the are doing is OK and wont hurt anything.
           I thought this article was very good and gave a nice topic overview of cloning. I also thought that it was surprising that all countries don't get together and decide all together whether the world should or should not clone. personally i would say that in some cases cloning is good and others bad. for instance i think cloning would be except able if cloning was used to fix problems the baby may have. but i think it is wrong to use cloning to hurt or effect the baby in life.

Article Cite
ProQuest Staff. "Topic Overview: Bioethics and Cloning." ProQuest LLC. 2013: n.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Mar 2013.

HALO The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund

                  In “HALO The Fall of Reach" by Eric Nylund, although I didn't get that far into the book the main idea is clear. From the very beginning you can see that John a kid from Reach was born to be a strong leader. It all started when Dr. Catherine Halsey a U.N.S.C. scientist goes to secretly interview Candidate 117 (John) for her top secret experiment right before kidnapping him. From there John and a group of 70 other kids go through agonizing military training. Dr. Halsey then does her experiment to enhance the kid’s growth, reflexes, muscles, bone strength, and knowledge complicity. Dr. Halsey ends up making the perfect supper soldiers. That are tested and trained even more brutally in the next couple of weeks. At the end of all this john is made the commanding officer of the remaining 30 soldiers.

           To me John is the perfect leader; he cares and helps his team from the very beginning. In every training mission with teams John put his team before himself. For instance, when all 70 candidates were told to hike to a spot on a map to be picked up by a Pelican (plane). Commander Mendez told everyone that the last one to the Pelican would have to stay behind. John told his men that if anyone was getting left behind it was going to be him. This shows how John is a good leader because it shows how he puts his men before him. It also shows John is a good leader because he won’t leave one of his men behind. Finally, it shows that John is a good leader because he knows how to boost the morale of his men.

           Another example of how John is a good Commanding Officer is how he cares when he loses men. For instance when he lost about 40 out of 70 of his men due to affects of Dr. Halsey body inclement experiment. When his men died he felt as if he had lost a part of himself and when he doctors were moving the permanently crippled men he made sure they would still get a chance to serve their country in some way. As John said, "That's all we want, a chance to serve,"(Nylund 55). This proves John is a good Commanding Officer because he really cares about his men and what happens to them. John would probably rather die than loose men, which is what a good Commander would do for his men.

Non-Fiction Post

 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson tells the story of how Lincoln was shot and killed. It also tells the story of what happened to John Wilkes Booth after he shot Lincoln. Booth shot and killed Lincoln because he was mad that the Confederacy had lost the war. As an actor, Booth knew the whole layout of the theater that Lincoln was going to attend a show in. Booth also knew the show well, and that made it easier to plan the murder. From the title it is clear that this book tells us a lot about the hunt for Booth and his associates.

This book was really suspenseful and keeps the reader on the edge of his seat. In the book, the first thing Swanson talks about is how Booth shot Lincoln. He starts out by telling the reader how Booth got to the theater and up the back way to Lincoln’s box. After that he explains how Booth snuck into the room and shot Lincoln in the back of the head with a small pistol. When he tried to get away he was tackled by Major Henry Rathbone who realized what Booth had done. Not thinking, Booth jumped out of the box onto the stage where he stood up and said “Sic simper tyrannis!” which is “the state motto of Virginia: ‘Thus always to tyrants’” (Swanson 43).  The details Swanson adds make the book exciting because you don’t know what is going to happen next. The descriptions make the reader wonder what it was like in the theater that night.

Swanson includes pictures that make the reader want to know more about the events that happen in this book. For example, Swanson includes pictures from news papers from back in 1865. One specific news paper is the National Police Gazette from April 22, 1865 which shows drawings of how Lincoln was shot and what people did after he was shot. It also shows drawings of the attempted assassination of Secretary of State William H. Seward in his bed (56). Seeing these images helps the reader get a better picture of what really happened and the surrounding time period. These images also give us an idea of the people and the time because of what they were wearing and where they were. It also show s how people back then would learn about what happened through drawings  since there were no TV’s.

This book makes me wonder what the time was like. Also after reading this book I want to see Lincoln, the movie. This book makes me think how terrible the assassination of the president was, especially since he freed the slaves

Non-Fiction RR

In the article, “The Fury of Fire,” the author, Kristin Lewis, wants the reader to know how wildfires spread and what they do. The author describes what it is like to be in a wildfire. The author also talks about what life is like after a wildfire. The article shows the reader how destructive and frightening wildfires are.

Kristin Lewis writes about a kid named Kevin Conaway and his family whose town was caught in a wildfire. In San Diego County back in 2003, two wildfires were started by people, one accidentally and another on purpose. When I read this it makes me think how important it is to be careful when I am in a forest. In the article, “The Fury of Fire,” Lewis says, “wildfires can move at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour” (Lewis 5). Lewis also describes how hot a wildfire can get – 2600 degrees. Lewis’s details make the reader aware of how horrible a wildfire could be especially since it could be 2600 degrees before the fire gets to you. The article shows the reader how hard it is to escape a wildfire since wildfire can move 10 times as fast as a normal person can run.

The second half of the article explains how Kevin’s town was affected. Lewis tells how Kevin’s house was spared from the fire but other parts of the town were not so lucky. Lewis describes the scene. “As the Conaway’s drove onto their street, Kevin saw a blackened hillside. But their house was ok” (Lewis 6). Hundreds of other homes in Kevin’s neighborhood were damaged. After Kevin got back to his house they started helping to clean up the town. They also gave out supplies and blankets to people who lost their homes. This crisis is similar to Hurricane Sandy because people came together to help their neighbors rebuild their homes and made sure they had enough food and clothing.      

After reading this article, I understand how terrible wildfires can be. I now know how wildfires can spread and kill people really fast. I also learned what it is like to be in a wildfire from Kevin’s story. This article makes the reader aware of how wildfires are started so they can be prevented.

Works Cited

 Lewis, Kristin. “The Fury of Fire.” Scholastic Action. 8 October 2012: 4-6. Print. 

Blog Post Due on the 17th

In the book Peak by Ronald Smith, the author started the book in an interesting way. He did that by having the main character write the story as if he is explaining what happened to him in the last couple of months. Peak, is a 14 year old, who loves mountain climbing and tries to climb a skyscraper in New York and gets caught. From there he goes to court and ends up getting parole and has to go live with his dad who he never sees. His dad brought Peak to Mount Everest where Josh, Peak’s dad, had to bring a climbing party up the mountain. That was not all Josh planned to do. He planned on getting Peak to the top so he could be the youngest person to the top which would get more business for Josh’s mountain climbing company.

            I thought the author’s way of starting the book was a good idea. It made you wonder why a kid was writing about what happened to him in the past year. It also made you wonder why he was writing about it in the back of a van driving away from Mount Everest. The best part was how the author explained why he was writing in the back of a van slowly. He did this by first explaining the why he was writing in the beginning. He first described what Peak’s teacher said he needed to do to pass 8^th grade, which ended up being a writing assignment on anything he wanted to write about. Then in the middle and end he explained why he was in a van driving away from Mount Everest. He did this by bringing Peak and his dad to Mount Everest. The way the author wrote the book was interesting.