Determination- A Skill

Author's Note- I thought that in the novel that we read in class it showed a lot of determination, so that's what I immediately knew that I was going to write about.

In my performances lately on the basketball court, there is no way that I am going to get much playing time anymore because of my lack of effort to do anything at all besides jog around and look like a total fool. This time, I am going to try my hardest and give my full effort; this time, I am going to show the coaches what I can do. I have determination, I just need to find it. To have a powerful amount of determination is a great accomplishment in life, and the person that has determination is the person that everybody else envies, and they wish that they had the determination to do even one simple thing with their life; that is exactly what happens with Guy Montag in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Montag himself before he met Clarisse McClellan had a lot of determination, but he just didn't know it was there. Behind every inch of determination, there is some arrangement of inspiration, so in this novel, Montag's inspiration was Clarisse - she appears one day, and then is gone a couple weeks later. She almost had a ghost-like appearance, but she flowed like a goddess. For Montag having a tragic type life before Clarisse shows up to gradually getting better - but when Clarisse gets 'run over by a car', she was still there with him, and her presence in his head is what announced the needed change in his life.

Just the thought of having my own house burned down seems scary, so I can't even imagine how it must have been for Montag having to set his own home on fire. Beatty is really starting to irritate him, so after all of the pressure that he's been through, he takes the liquid fire and squirts it at Beatty, poisoning him and then he lays there, slowly drifting to his death. The Mechanical Hound soon after takes action and pierces Montag in the leg, making the entire leg go numb. Determination from inside of him comes out to show to the world, and he hops all the way to Faber's house to make the indescribable plan of staying alive and keeping his past with the books intact and not just letting it all go like it's nothing at all important to him, when it actually is.

Having determination is a marvelous skill to have within yourself, and that is just one of the many skills that Montag has in this novel. He pushed through all of the minor issues, and then when the colossal issue of him being wanted all over town came on, he knew what to do because of all of his prior experience with dealing with his own issues himself, and not getting help. When Faber came into plan, he did nothing bad, he just gave Montag some advice and a device to hear each other and what was going on in the situation. Before Montag could do any of these things, he had to have some sort of built up determination, and that is what inspired him to deal with his issues - if only us as humans could do that also.

The Necessary Pain of Life

Running up and down the field as a midfielder, all you can hear is the huffing and puffing of your own breathing, and then the seemingly loud noise of your teammate's - or opponent's - foot making full contact with the ball. For this game, we have no substitutes to come in for me, so I am just going to have to tough it out and keep pushing one hundred percent until the referee blows the annoying whistle for the last time. As the coach says, 'Pain is temporary; but pride is forever'. Pain is such a big part of our lives - all it could possibly do is make us stronger day by day by living through the bad and when it's all over, gratefully receiving the good. This is exactly what is explained in the last section that our class has just read in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

If there were any way possible to get more inner strength than you already have, what would you do? Just shy away from everything and be totally oblivious to the world, or live through the pain? At times pain can hurt, but just like Montag did in the novel, we need to realize that pain is relevant in life, and when it comes, it can only help us improve ourselves as people. Montag desperately needed to get to Faber's household after he had destroyed his own home, but one of his legs was no longer there, but he went the extra mile by hopping on one leg to help out a numerous amount of characters in the novel. "What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger."

Said by Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous quote "What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger" can be used in an abundant amount of situations in this novel. In the most recent part, Montag has a diverse amount of books held in his residence, and Captain Beatty has just found out about this huge collection. Beatty, being the person that he is, is not very happy about this, so the day where Montag arrives at work Beatty drives the truck to Montag's house, starts the flame thrower, and then makes Montag burn down his own house. Montag has his newly-found courage and inner strength from living through all of the pain that he has dealt with thus far, and he squirts the liquid fire onto Beatty, so he is now dead, and then the Hound come over and stabs his procaine needle right into Montag's leg and he slowly drifts into a numbness, and eventually is unconcscious. When he regains his consciousness, he notices that his leg is completely gone, except for the little stub attached to his hip. This is just a little part of showing his confidence in himself.

But when Montag sees the Salamander gone when he wakes up, he is all alone in front of his house with no help, no one to talk to, and no way to get to Faber's house to tell him what had just happened. Portraying the hero that he is in this novel, he willingly hops on one leg to his friend's house. Because of the little green object that was in Montag's ear that connected him to Faber that Beatty had seen, something needs to be done with it, and Montag needs to let Faber know about it because after all, he is the inventor. One sign of true strength is toughing everything out and fulfilling your goal of accomplishing what you needed to get accomplished; that is exactly what Montag did.

Pain in life is a true necessity to getting through all of the moments where you really do need your strength to secure your chance of being a true person. Every person has pain, it just comes and goes, but also it is always there for reference. If you have pain, just don't worry about it; live your life to the fullest and don't hold back, you will eventually get through it and everything will be okay. That is exactly what is happening in the novel.

What is a Patriot?

Imagine yourself inside of your luxurious home sitting next to the warm fireplace with all of your family right after eating the huge meal that your mother has cooked for you consisting of a big, dark turkey with vegetables, mashed potatoes, and bread. What a perfect situation, right? Well, the people that are in the army and navy fighting for our country don't get those opportunities. They get all of the loud noises, sometimes no warmth, no family to see every day, and definitely not that quality of meals. We should all appreciate the risks that the people fighting for the rights for our country do for us, and not take it for granted; patriotism definitely still matters to the world.

In most cases, people think that patriotism deals with war. Those people would be wrong; patriotism does not exclusively deal with war - it deals with a lot of things to do with every one of us, and not just the people fighting for the rights of our country. The actual definition of patriotism is devoted love, support, and defense of one's country - but also defending the Constitution. There is always a time in everybody's life where we lose faith in people and institutions, but even when that happens, we as citizens can find ways to make our country better. All of the little things put together make one big step. Even with the occasional bumps in the road, we have so much to be proud of.

You don't have to be a world hero to be a patriot - it's all about accepting personal responsibility. Any person can be a patriot just by taking the extra steps to make our country a better place for everybody to live in. Patriotism in our minds is more than just love for our country, but then once again, when you think about it, love for our country is patriotism, and patriotism still matters.

The Corruption of Power

I'm at my best friend's birthday party. Seems fun, right? Not in my perspective; there's this girl, and she seems to be controlling the whole party. It seems like everybody is basically surrounding her. Sometimes I wish that I was popular and had that kind of power -- but knowing me, would I overuse it? When someone gets ahold of power, sometimes the power will go to their heads and make them do things that you wouldn't expect to be done. This type of situation is exactly what happens in Animal Farm by George Orwell.

People think that having a lot of power is the most that a person can get in life -- but it's not. Having good friendships is one of the most valuable things in life. If your friend suddenly had a lot of power and started to misuse it, how far would you go to stop and help them? Some people would do almost anything to keep their amount of power and make sure that nobody could steal even one tiny drop of it from them. One of the times that Napoleon made this mistake was when everybody started to agree with Snowball, Napoleon decided that even though Snowball was his friend, he didn't want any of his power stolen from him. This problem is relevant with Napoleon in the novel; thinking that he has all of the power in the world.

Besides the fact of betrayal of friendships, Napoleon made up rules for the farm. He said that if any animal were to disobey these rules, they would be executed. Napoleon realized that the rules were a little sketchy, so he changed them and fit them to his needs -- without telling the other farm residents. Since he already had too much power to deal with and has his own little pack of followers, once he broke the rules, there were no consequences for him; but there was for Snowball. Everybody thought it was an excellent thing to walk on two feet, even though it was clearly against the Seven Commandments before the animals knew that he had changed them. When a person like Napoleon develops this extent of power, you might finally be able to tell what kind of person they truly are beyond all of the lies.

At the point in time where a person maximizes the quantity of power that they are not able to grasp, the corruption inside of their brain starts to take over. No matter what you do, now there is no way to bring that person back to what they used to be before this problem even began. Since Napoleon abused his position, all of his so-called "friends" left him, he was left alone by himself for a while and then eventually stuck like a human forever.

Tom Sawyer Final Essay

All of these children are running around like crazy, but just being themselves once again. I remember when I used to be like that prancing and dancing around with my companions; I miss those old days. Being how old I am now, those type of circumstances seem almost impossible. Tom was just an innocent boy in the world of life, and even though other citizens of Missouri may think he is an instigator, all he really is is a youngster at heart trying to live his life to the fullest.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a great novel for adults and adolescents alike to read. Each novel has a theme, and the theme in this book is pure innocence. Tom Sawyer is a child who loves to have fun with his best friend -- Huckleberry Finn -- and go on adventures. One of which that the two boys find treasure in a cave, and then by mistake locked Injun Joe in there. Even though everybody else in the town including his aunt Polly and Sid assume that he has no potential in life, there are many things that people do not know about him. The first time that Tom saw Becky Thatcher, he instantly fell in love; every single thing about her invited him in. Since his aunt at home treats him like a slave and doesn't seem to care as much about him as Mary and Sid, Tom almost has to tend to himself, and being innocent is one of the only things that he has a choice about then.

The author of this book, Mark Twain, has an abstract writing style. He has a tendency to show a lot of symbolism, but still keeps it enjoyable for the reader. Twain was also from near the southern area of the United States, so he had a very clear vision of what it would be like in Tom's shoes, since he was once a young boy in like manner. This specific book that we read as a class had many contradistinct reasons why adults and/or children should watch what they do. For example, when Becky is gone for a while away from school and from Tom, he becomes really depressed; but when she returns, Tom begins to flirt with his old accomplice, and she becomes heartbroken. He really made their relationship at the time a lot worse, and even he himself knew that it was not right. Also when Aunt Polly punishes Tom for sneaking out in the middle of the night or going swimming in his good clothes and then trying to resew it, when she does that it essentially makes him feel unwanted, and sometimes even unloved, which is not right for a child to accept.

Anybody who loves to read outstandingly written novels would adore this one. There are so many elements in this book that can bring out real life circumstances, but Twain also tied in some things that may not ever be seen in a lifetime. At one point in the book, Tom and his buddy Huck go to a graveyard, but they bring along a dead cat that can magically remove warts. They are hiding behind a tombstone, and a doctor gets killed. That event may become to anyone, and may scare a child deeply. Behind the storyline there is one main thing that really stands out to me -- love. Tom and Becky have a special connection between them that any child would be lucky to have. While the two are adventuring through the mysterious cave, Becky, being the fragile girl that she is, got scared; and Tom, the kid who acts all tough and strong, tries to comfort her. Juveniles all around the world have this feeling with someone, but are most likely afraid to show it at our age because they are too young to be in a serious affair.

Mark Twain is an excellent writer for describing many things that could happen in a normal child's life. Tom was just a young person wanting to sometimes escape from the real world and just be himself or becoming a pirate, and he has definitely achieved that goal of doing just that. In this time period, all kids want to do is play video games and eat junk food; but maybe children should get outside and even become secret agents or explore new places inside of their own head that they did not know was there.

Tom Sawyer Essay

Sitting on the park bench, next to the most boring tree on the block, there I am – wishing for something eventful to happen today. If I had an imagination, maybe I could actually do something fun for a change. I already tried telling my dim-witted parents that I was bored out of mind, but they said to go play with a rock outside; turn it into a pet were their exact words. I wish, just once, that something would spark into my head that will give me an idea about how to make something special happen. At one point in every kid’s life, they start to develop a new type of imagination. When a person is in the toddler stage of their life, their imagination isn’t very in depth – there are usually just some scrawny pictures with no color. Once they reach the time in their cycle where they start to develop a little bit more, the imagination runs wild and starts to almost become it’s own; whether it be good or bad. Every kid needs an imagination and if they don’t have one, then many things could go wrong.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a great book for telling children about what kind of things can go on inside of a pre-teenager’s mind at times. When Tom Sawyer finally gets sick of just living his normal, boring life, he brightens up his day by running away to an island with his best friends – Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper – and imagining that they are terrifying pirates who rule the world. The boys finally get sick of eating stolen food, even though each person thought that this type of adventure was fun, but every child who lives with someone else that they love, are sure to get homesick. Tom drew up an illustriously brilliant plan to come home and surprise everyone at his own funeral, but that was just his imagination kicking in, because no other child in the 1800’s would have ever thought about that. Each and every person’s brain is wired differently, and that is why each one has special thoughts separated from others.

There was one other illustration of a really well-detailed scene in this book that I found to be relevant – when Tom and Huckleberry go treasure hunting. First of all, Tom is so concise where he thinks that treasure will be found, and once it gets dark out, both of the boys start to get frantic about ghosts and witches behind them. Huckleberry says, “Here this time of night with witches and ghosts a-fluttering around. I feel as if something’s behind me all the time, and I’m afraid to turn around becuz whatever’s in front of me is a-waiting for a chance to snatch me up.” In the next scene where they must hide because they hear voices, Tom is suddenly silent for once, and then his mind plays a little trick on him, and he thinks that a rat has just scurried across the top of his foot. As time runs on, the boys figure out Injun Joe’s plan; and since Tom has such a vivid imagination, there are so many possibilities that he could have came up with.

While all men and women mature, their imagination begins to become more complex, but also more reasonable. At one point, they may be seeing a child riding on a pink unicorn, but then once the dream of you as a child riding on a pony abruptly stops, you think of a fully-grown adult, galloping away into the sunset on a tall, black stallion. Everybody matures at their own paces, so there are many different reasons why people are dissimilar than others.

Final "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" Response

Here I am, sitting in my favorite brown chair, reading a book, where some parts are not as enhancing as others -- but this part, right here, has the makings to be a great novel. I am most excited about finally reaching the next part, but my mom calls me in for supper, and I morosely put the book down on the table besides the extraordinary chair, solemnly waiting to pick it up again. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith has many reasons why you should treasure your life. Francie's life was pretty fallacious, but in the end, everything started to climb back up the mountain to achievement when she changed from a child to a cultivated woman.

The theme in this book is very relevant -- innocence to experience in a young girl's life. This girl, Francie, grows up in one of New York's obscene towns, Brooklyn. Yet somehow she finds it exceedingly mystifying. She overcomes many obstacles in her life, and once at one of her hardest struggles says, "Well, I guess the thing that is giving me this headache is life -- and nothing else but." I agree. Life is a pain, but if you have family and friends to help you through it, there will be no problems as bad as if you had to solve them alone. All Francie really is is a tree planted in the wrong spot.

Betty Smith wrote this novel in a peculiar way. She had a comprehensible vision of how a adolescent girl in a social class like Francie's would live. Included in her novel were an abounding number of lessons that could teach the reader about life; children or even elders. For example, in about the middle of the book, Francie's father dies from drinking too much, not just that, but also from drinking too much too often and pneumonia. A father dying could happen to any child, in fact it happens to every person sooner or later. There are many different reasons why a person could be heartbroken -- Lee left her to go to France, and a couple days later, a sad Francie received a letter from his mother saying that he was pretending the whole time, and Francie had practically promised her life away to him! Even though that is notably appalling on Francie's part, it could portray to anyone.

Anybody reading this book could get some good citations out of it. I think the point of reading it was the author wanted us to see what kind of life goes on in Brooklyn at the time period that she was living in there to give people reading it in the future a short glimpse of what it was like. How the Nolan family talked, acted, and how people living in the streets acted and how their use of language was, all pieces to this puzzle of Brooklyn, New York. Another point I noticed that there was to this book was that life doesn't always go as you expected it to be. Johnny lost his job, which he completely didn't think was going to happen, and went back to Union Headquarters to see if he could find a new one, but the people working there told him never to come back because he was a drunk and a useless worker. Some people in this world are not the most commendable, but you just have to keep driving no matter which way the road goes -- left or right.

This novel has contradistinct reasons why you should be careful of what you do, and always go one step up at a time; don't skip any because you might miss out on something meaningful. All Francie did was hit a couple bumps in the road. Never did she doubt herself though, she kept traveling and eventually everything turned out smooth once again.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Second Response

I am alone, sitting on the lonely curb on the street, wishing that I at least had a quarter to get me some decent food tonight, instead of wandering to a sordid trash can for my distasteful dinner. It's so filthy and revolting that it makes me want to starve myself until I die; maybe death is better than all of this. Even though money isn't that important, compared to something like friends or family, it is still very meaningful in a person's life in many different ways.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is a very good book for explaining that money is somewhat crucial in a young girl's life. One way that money was needed in Francie's life was when she was going to her old school back in Brooklyn, she was being treated unfairly because she did not have as much money as the other students. Because of this, Francie ended up wetting her pants in the back of the classroom, and Sissy had to come after school and make up this huge lie so Francie would not get embarrassed again. After she switched to her new school at the other side of Brooklyn, she was not accustomed to getting respected equally because of her money situation. This new school is much more sophisticated than her last one, so the teachers and staff at this school didn't care how much money you have, they give you the same amount of attention as if you were rich beyond notice.

Another reason that money is needed in the Nolan family life besides respect is for example after Johnny died, they were short one working person. The group was so desperate that the local saloon owner who was a close friend of Johnny's had to give them jobs just so they could pay the rent. Not including anything else, just the rent. Right before graduation, Katie had another child -- Laurie they named it -- which made it even more of a struggle for the family because it meant they would need to buy more food, more clothes, more everything! After graduation, must of the families went to the ice cream shop to celebrate, and Francie was worried if Katie was going to tip the waiter of not, and she ended up giving the rest of the change to him, and that was the remainder of their money. Evy mentioned it to her, but Katie acted like she didn't even notice what she just did and what is going on in her life at the moment's notice.

Money is very important in an average family's life because it makes them feel special, or maybe like they are the richest people in the world; but it could also make them feel poor, and ruin their life experiences. If you are a truly smart person, one of the qualitites that you need is that you will not waste your valuables like most people tend to do. This family in the novel has done both -- wasted it and kept good care of it. Don't make this mistake like the Nolans have done.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: First Response

Sitting on the living room couch, looking around the ginormous area, I see all of my wonderful relatives reuniting with me. This is the special moment that every person wishes they could have. Some families are very unfortunate to lose family members, and a person may have a hard time trying to live their life the way that they used to. Family should be one of everybody's top priorities because if we grow apart from our family members, things will just keep getting worse and worse, and before you know it, they will roll right down the hill of your drastic life.

In this book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, one of the reasons that family is important is because everybody needs somebody to go to for advice. For example, when Francie goes to her mom, Katie, for some guidance about her changes, she realizes that she needs help. That is what family is for -- to help you with the things that you cannot do alone. Another way that family is crucial is that even though every family has some fights, eventually they get through them. Like when Johnny and Katie have spurts where they get mad at one another, the next day most likely they forgot all about what happened previously and start fresh again.

There are many different reasons why people these days have lost some relatives, but if you really do care, you will never let them out of your grasp. Do not ever fail to keep your family with you in the long run, and they will always be with you too.

"All Summer in a Day" Short Story Response

Me, sitting in the back of the language arts room with a book I front of my face, pretending to silently read this boring book, after all, those were the nasty teachers orders. Instead, my thoughts creep into the back of my head, all of them about the short story that we read yesterday, “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. Even though most kids these days have a ton of friends and family, everyone should still fear isolation because of loss of friendships and a lot of difficult times.

Children should fear isolation because of many reasons. One of which the main character, Margot, got locked in a closet with nobody else, and she had no friends. If children don’t have any friends, who should they go to for advice besides their parents? All children need friends and family to help them get through their lives. I know that if I lost all of my friends in within a week I would be really sad and not be able to have any fun anymore. Without fun, the world would literally be black in every child’s mind, and children are supposed to be happy people.

Every child in the world needs friends and family to help people be themselves. Each and every person has a different personality, and they all have friendships too. Even if you think that the world is going to end because of a tragic event or something, things will eventually get better.

Classroom Changes

Slowly falling asleep on the hard desks with a book in front of your face, trying to stay clear of the teacher’s nasty glare. The metal chairs numb your tailbone, and even the squeaky noise from the whiteboard markers gently puts you to sleep. Kids come to school because their parents tell them to, and when they walk into their first class, the day just drags on and on because of the boring classrooms, so we must remodel them to make kids want to come to school everyday.

The very first thing that I must change is the flooring. Right in the middle of the room is an inclined floor, filled with wonderfully furry beanbags, with scientific laptops on top of them. Around the focus of the floor is carpet, which is hot pink, with lime green polka dots. In addition to the polka dots are some tiny patches of neon orange, and on the top floor, the carpet is cocoa brown for relaxation.

Another way I should change up the classroom is different ways to get up to the second floor. Instead of staircases and elevators, I’d put in a rock climbing wall and firemen poles. The rock climbing wall is covered in many different colored rocks, and the fireman poles are a really bright gold. Then, for handicapped purposes, there is a glass elevator in the corner.

In addition to the beautiful carpeting and the fun ways to get up to the second floor, I would like to add a delicious food station on the top floor. The brown wooden table is made out of oak, and the food is catered. Next to the table of food is a miniature refrigerator, for healthy drinks like milk, and bottles of water. Sitting in the corner is a funnel cake maker, and then right next to the funnel cake maker is a hot chocolate maker, for the freezing cold days in the English room. By the way, on the warmer days, there is a little cabana hut in the opposite corner with a Mexican guy making blue raspberry and cherry slushies.

Because of kids not wanting to come to school, these changes will definitely make kids rethink about it. This different styled school would make all kids excited about getting up in the morning. If you want to make school a little more fun for kids to hang out with their friends and also learn new things, change the designs for all of the children out there who don’t like school as much.

Veteran's Essay

If somebody asks you when the right time to honor our military heroes and veterans is, what would your answer be? There could be so many different answers, but which one would you choose?

When somebody comes up and asks me when the right time to honor military heroes is, my answer is all of the time. Let’s just say that somebody who was in World War II sees you and you start to have a conversation with him or her, but then you both run out of ideas to talk about. So why not bring up the topic of thanking them for going to war and making our country a better place? If everyone honors our military heroes all of the time, they will know how much everybody appreciates it. Then it will make them feel like a better person and that they made a good choice to go into World War II.

Another possible situation when to honor a military hero would be when a person that was in the Vietnam War was visiting your house for a celebration. If that person is one of your grandparents or a close relative, you could tell them that you love them very much and that you are grateful that they put so much time into the war. On the other hand, if the person that you are talking to is somebody that you just met or an individual that may not be as close to you, as long as they know that you value all of their time that was put into the war, the one that you are talking to is most likely very thankful that you are honoring them.

See, there are many different possible ways to honor a veteran or a military hero. If you see a relative or somebody wearing an army or military suit, just remember to thank them for everything that they have done and that you appreciate it very much.