Monday, March 15, 2010

A Day No Pigs Would Die


The story revolves around Rob’s development into manhood. In the first chapter he is a twelve year old skipping school, running from enemies, and looking for acceptance. As the story gets further, a series of events, transforms him into a man and the top of the family. Rob now understands life and that being a man is about doing what needs to be done, no matter how hard it is. This book was good because it was about the love between rob and his Pa.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Roadside Inferno

As the blazing flames rose higher and higher to the sky Steve and Kim couldn’t tell up from down as the smoke grew thicker. Breathing became harder because of the tar and chemicals in the smoke. In the article”Roadside Inferno” There was a man named Steve Cooper. He and his wife Kim were driving on Interstate 75 through Northern Kentucky near dusk. Steve was fast asleep. Kim spotted an orange glow and thought it was just a brush fire, but then she drove up to the scene and realized it was way worse than a brush fire. The “Roadside Inferno” would be a mortifying situation to be in. Most people can’t imagine the roaring flames or the blazing heat because people can say they know what to do or know what they would feel but no one can really know until they’re running for their lives.
A truck is on fire and Ronnie Sanders is fighting for his life. The trucks bulk would most likely protect him from the impact but the momentum of 23 tons would crush everything in the van. Steve is trying to save Ronnie’s life. Saving lives are important to me because one could die or get injured and no one wants that to happen to innocent people.
Steve tried many of times to pull Ronnie out of the truck. Ronnie’s legs were burning so Steve laid him down on the ground, and dragged him 20 yards when the trucks 150-gallon fuel tanks exploded. It was so hot and Steve couldn’t handle it. Steve got up and waited until ambulance arrived. I feel that it was brave of Steve Cooper to help Ronnie. If he didn’t help him he probably would of died because he couldn’t of made it out on his own. It’s very lucky that Steve was there to help Ronnie and to get the ambulance. It was inspiring because other people could help in a situation like that too. I’m proud because he had the guts to jump in a burning truck and save a life.
THE PEARL

Kino put his knife into the shell to open it. The muscles parted and it fell open. There he saw it, the greatest pearl in the world. In the book “The Pearl”, Kino and his wife Juana slide there canoe down the beach into the water, and together they paddle into the sea. They must find a pearl today. The baby Coyotito was stung by a scorpion that morning and is very ill. Kino has no money to pay the doctor. I feel worried that they will not find a pearl so they can’t help Coyotito.

Kino goes into the water, because he’s young he can remain underwater for two minutes. He sees a large oyster, the shell is partly open and he sees a white gleam inside. His heart beats as he grabs the oyster and goes back to the canoe. When he opens the oyster he finds the most beautiful pearl. If I was him I would feel excited that my life would get better now. When Kino goes to the pearl buyers the next day they try to cheat him. They tell him the pearl is worth little money and it’s too big and offer him not a lot of money. He tells them they will go to the capital to sell the pearl to get what it’s worth. I feet mad that they were trying to cheat him and if that was me I would do the same.

The people watched Kino and Juana holding Coyotito in her arms as they walked back to the city. They were very tired and have gone through a lot of pain, Coyotito was shot in the cave. Kino and Juana now know the pearl is evil, the pearl has taken their baby. Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. I feel that the point of the book was that the people you love, is more important than money.
The Glorious Whitewasher


Sometimes all it takes is to look at something differently and it doesn’t seem so bad. If you think positively it can take you a lot further. What looks like a great amount of work can turn out to be not so bad.
Even though the summer day was sunny and bright, Tom looked at, the thirty years of board fence he had to whitewash as a huge burden. Through his eyes he chose to look negatively and became discouraged. When people look negatively on something it looks worse than it really is. Tom felt hopeless because he had nothing of value to trade others to get them to do the whitewashing. The power of positive thinking can change everything. Someone who chooses to look at difficult things in a positive way can influence others the same. Tom found this out when he made the whitewashing look like a lot of fun, so fun that the other boys thought they were missing out on something if they didn’t get the chance to whitewash.
One by one they came to make fun, but ended up being influenced to whitewash, because Tom worked smarter, he didn’t have to work harder. Whether right or wrong he was able to get the boys to do his work for him. This was all because he chose to look at something difficult in a different way.