Old Man and the Sea Essay

Overcomming Struggles

Every single day people go through some type of struggle. They can be regular any day things like, figuring out what to wear or getting your homework done all the way to staying alive long enough to get home to your family if you are in the war. But no matter what the obstacle in your way is, it is always up to you, to get past the obstacle and overcome what is in your way. In the book The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago overcomes many important obstacles such as catching the biggest marlin he has ever seen, overcoming his physical injuries, and fighting off the sharks that come to his boat.

The first obstacle Santiago faces is catching the marlin. This marlin is over 18 feet long and over one thousand pounds. “He is two feet longer than the skiff the old man said.” This shows the extreme size of the fish he is trying to kill. He is all alone and he now has to single - handedly kill a marlin 2 feet longer than the boat he is in and then bring it in on his own. This is a huge obstacle for him to over come. He has nobody on his boat to help him with the fish and he has nobody to call to because he is way out in the middle of the ocean where nobody can find
him. This would make me very happy that i caught it but also pessimistic about wheather or not i could reel it in.

The second obstacle that the old man must encounter is his own physical injuries which almost get the best of him. He is having a cramped hand which he will need to hold the fish and back problems. His back is hurting from holding the rope tight against it. “God let me have the cramp go, he said. Because I do not know what the fish is going to do.” This shows one of the problems that the old man is facing. “Finally his left hand found the line and he leaned back against the line and now it burned his back and his left hand, and his left hand was talking all the strain and cutting badly.” This also shows more of the pain that he encounters. He has a hurt back and a hand that keeps cramping and also on his hands he has many cuts and scabs from the dried blood from the rope digging into his hands from hanging on so tight. Also he is physically tired in his entire body which complicates things more. This would have been very hard from him to overcome. Personally, i would be so annoyed with this id just let go and row away.

The last obstacle that Santiago faces out on his fishing voyage is many vicious sharks. The first shark he has to face is one of the most deadly ones in the sea, a Mako shark. “He was a very big Mako shark built to swim as fast as the fastest fish in the sea and everything about him was beautiful except his jaws.” The Mako shark has extremly sharp teeth that, at one sight of them would make me just give up the marlin. He then has to fight that off and succeeds to by ramming the harpoon into his head. But he soon encounters more. The way he fights them off becomes extremly intense and severe. The tries to club them away and stab them but he soon looses all his weapons and he is defenseless so the sharks eat his prized marlin which he
worked so hard to get. He feels hopeless after he looses his weapons but he still finds his was home.

This is the hardships the old man had to go through to catch this marlin. But unfortunately one of the hardships he went through also lost him the marlin. But all throughout the story which ever struggle presented itself to the old man he overcame it. Because even though he lost the fish he saved himself. This is what most people do everyday, is they get past there difficulties and make life better. I find it amazing that through all the things that happens in the book, the old man still seems optimistic.

"3rd Quarter Out side Reading Book Review"

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Arthur A. Levine Books, since 1920. Genre: Fiction.

This is the 7th and the last of the Harry Potter books. it is about Harry fulfilling a mission that Dumbledore left him before he died. he has to destroy the 7 "horcruxes" Voldemort made so he can finally kill him. a horcrux is something you seal part of your soul in so if your body is attacked part of your sould still remains so you cannot die. so Harry has to get rid of these so he can finish off Voldemort. but the trouble is he does not know where they are so he has to figure that out himself.

"The curtains close. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the famous epic of wizardry and magic finally ends. J. K. Rowling takes us, Muggles, for one last magical tour into Harry Potter's world. The book ends with a climax that reaches a feverish pitch. If you haven't yet grabbed a copy of the book, you are missing a lot."

-Simran Khurana

The 7th is just like the first 6 but much more intense. everysingle chapter is packed with suspense and action making it very fun and enjoiable to read. the author shows harry potter as the hero type with many people looking up to him and even liking him just because of what he has overcome. but also with that there must come enemies and he does have plenty of those. between voldemort and draco its hard to choose who to route against more. but once again harry pulls of what he has to somehow and always with the help of his friends. all of the first six books lead up to the final ending of this book which ends very well.

"Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last the he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms" (691).

I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. i think J.K. Rowling does a really good job and she makes the books suspenseful and very fun and easy to want to read and makes you want to keep reading and then when you are done read it again. i like the suspense that the author puts into this and the great detail and extreme imagination that makes it interesting. i would definately reconmmend this to anybody else you likes books that are fun and interesting and suspenseful.

Short Story

Until The Day I’m Gone

“Kayla, are you almost ready? We have a reservation at 7 o’ clock” said Brad.
“Yeah ill be down in one minute!” Kayla said.

It was Kayla’s and Brad’s 2 year anniversary as a couple, but they weren’t quite married yet. But to celebrate there anniversary Brad is taking Kayla to her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. Brad also got Kayla a beautiful diamond heart necklace, the one she has always wanted.

Dinner was very good when they got back home Brad gave Kayla the necklace. She loved it so much she could hardly speak! It really pleased him to know that she enjoyed the present so much. She gave him a big kiss and hug to thank him for the present and told him how much she loved him. Brad told her he loves her too, as they were a very much in love couple. They went to sleep very happy with the day and Brad was dreaming about proposing to Kayla, which he wanted to do soon. He woke up early because of a call. The call was from the General in the military telling him he had to go off to help fight the war in Iraq. Brad is a Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps. Brad could not impasse the call. He was devastated to get this call because he planned to go buy a engagement ring for Kayla that day so he could have it ready when he decided to propose to her.

Brad went out anyways before Kayla woke up and went to get Kayla a engagement ring. He went to Kay Jewelers because he saw a engagement ring there a while ago that he wanted to get. It was silver with a big 4 karat diamond. He decided to get it and it would match perfectly with the necklace he got her. He got home by 9 a.m. and Kayla was still sleeping so he cooked her favorite breakfast, bacon and eggs. He made everything just the way she liked it. because he was very magnanimous to her. She woke up to the delicious smell of his cooking wafting into her room and he delicately placed everything on a tray and served her breakfast in bed. He kissed her good morning and then gave her, her breakfast.

Kayla said, “Brad that was delicious” and ate it all.
Brad said, “Thanks Kayla but, I have to tell you something”
Kayla said, “What is it?”

He told her how he got called out to the war to settle the anarchy over there and how he would be gone for a year. She started crying and he did too. It morosed Kayla to know that she wouldnt see Brad for a year. He was going to miss her so much and he was deeply afraid that while he is gone she will find somebody else and leave him, and she was all that he had, but Brad didn’t want to share those fears with Kayla. Kayla was also going to miss Brad and she had trepidation that he might die in the war because it was extremely dangerous and many people have died already. He was to leave in 2 weeks. So leading up to that time together Kayla and Brad spent all of there time together. They hardly left each others side! But Brad didn’t think it would be fair to Kayla to propose to her and then have to leave. So he never did.

On the day Brad had to leave Kayla cried a lot and so did Brad. Brad gave her one last hug and kiss.

“I am going to miss you so much Kayla!‘ Said Brad.
“Ill miss you too! Be safe, remember you promised you’d come home to me!!“ Kayla said.

And with that Brad boarded the plan and was gone leaving Kayla there with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Brad got to Iraq the next morning, missing Kayla already. He was briefed about what he was to do. And he spent the whole day training with dexterity. He was then told that he was going to be sent to do patrols of a dangerous village the next day with 5 other Marines and was compliant when he heard this. He was laying in bed that night and he pulled out some paper and began writing. He was writing to Kayla. He was telling her what it is like out here and explaining his feelings towards her and how much he missed her. He loathed being away from her for this long! He had it sent to her the next day before the patrols. Brad was an infallable Marine. During the patrols they didn’t find anybody that posed a threat to them. They were surprised because they were prepared for an ambush that never came. But all that was on Brad’s mind was Kayla. He got a letter back from her a week and 2 days later. It was titled take care of yourself out there. And in the letter she also explained how much she missed him and how much she loves him. Also how she was doleful that she couldnt see him at all. But she told him he was very hardly to be out there fighting for his country. She told him to keep writing letters so they can stay close and it lets her know he’s still going to be able to come home to her.

So Brad pulled out more paper and began writing. He felt aloofed from Kayla and this was the only way for him to stay attached to her. He was telling her everything that was happing out there and everything he was doing and everything he felt. She wanted to know everything and she was going to know everything. Each time he wrote to her she wrote back. Within 7 months they were up to there 40th letter! They kept explaining there feelings and told each other everything that was going on. Kayla was explaining what was going on at there beach house in California and Brad was telling Kayla about Iraq. He told Kayla that he had to go on another mission to another town. What they were supposed to do it neutralize the enemies from the area, it was said to be a major base camp for them.

When Brad and 2 dozen other Marines arrived in the little town to bolster the Marines that were already there and it was quiet. They walked around all equipped with M16’s, flash bangs and smoke grenades checking out every house and building. All of a sudden shots were fired and Brad’s friend had been hit. Enemies were swarming in on them yelling in their jargon so the Marines couldnt understand them. So Brad and his platoon ran into a vacant house and started firing back through the windows. The Marines fought back and were doing very well to defend themselves. There were not many enemies left because many of them ran and some died but the marines didn’t die. They were trained better than that and were ready for the ambush. Then a shot was fired from the left and Brad turned to look and then BOOM! Brad got hit in the left shoulder, just above his body armor.

“AHH!!” yelled Brad as he fell to the ground.
“Brad! Brad! Are you okay!?” said Brad’s commander Tommy.
“Kayla, I need to come home to Kayla!” said Brad.
“Don’t worry Brad were going to get you home!” Tommy said.

Brad was lifted out by chopper and was brought to the base were he was sent to the hospital. Brad got shot in the shoulder 2 times by 2 AK-47 slugs. Kayla was called and was informed that Brad was shot and she was told the doctors were doing everything they could. She was worried when he didn’t respond to the letter that she wrote him and now she knew why. She was very scared! She thought he was going to die but she prayed he wouldn’t!

A couple days later Brad was all bandaged up and was able to leave the hospital, he was going to make a full recovery. He was being sent home early and he was only gone for 8 and a half months. He was happy about that because he missed Kayla so much! One week later he pulled in front of his house in California. Kayla was home. She saw the car pull up and she got really scared. She did not receive a call that he was coming home so she thought they were coming to tell he that Brad had died as a result to his wounds. She started crying and opened the door and walked outside. The weather was warm and breezy, Brad’s favorite kind which made her cry even harder when all of a sudden she saw Brad step out of the car. She was over whelmed with excitement!! She sprinted to him and he lifted her in the air holding her tight!

“Brad!! You’re home!!” said Kayla
“Yeah, finally” said Brad with a smile

After a few minutes Brad finally set her down and got on one knee. He pulled out the diamond ring that he had been looking at for the last 8 and a half months waiting to give her.

“Kayla, will you marry me?” said Brad.
“Yes, of course!” replied Kayla with a big smile.

And with that they went back inside. Brad was awarded a purple heart for being wounded in war and after that resigned from being a marine taking up a job as a local security guard. Kayla was very happy about him resigning and the got married 4 months later right there in California. It was the wedding of Kayla’s dream. The night of their wedding Brad confessed to Kayla his fears and she told him that she would have never left him. And they went on to be married and elated for the rest of their lives.

2nd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Faithful By Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King. Stewart O'Nan, Stephen King, 2004. Genre: Diary.

What this book is about is two diehard Red Sox fans and their experiences with America's most beloved baseball team the Boston Red Sox. also about the historic 2004 season they played when the broke "the curse." most people know that "the curse" is when the Red Sox couldnt win the world series. this went on for 86 years. this curse started in 1918 when the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees (the red sox's biggest rival) just because of their greedy owner. in this book there are two man characters (Stewart O'Nan and Stephan Kinga) both of which are huge Red Sox fans. they go to all the Red Sox games and kept the faith even through all that has happend with the Red Sox comming so close to winning and then just not finishing it. but they believed that 2004 would finally be the year they would win it!

"Early in 2004, two writers and Red Sox fans, Stewart O'Nan and Stephan King, decided to chronicle the upcomming season, one of the most hotly anticipated in baseball history."

Faithful is written as a diary between the two writters and they include everything that is going on during the season. they include pre season coverage and games they went to (spring training) which includes them meeting the players and deciding to themselves which players are they best and who they should keep and not keep. this is not like many other stephan king books because he writes many horror books. but this is a lot like the movie fever pitch. which includes diehard red sox fans with season tickets who scout and go to all the games and who witnessed the amazing 2004 season.

"whats better tha the Sox winning? the Sox winning and the Yanks losing. last night the Mariners rocked Jon Liber. so we're two games up. and we cant forget the O's, just a half a game behind them." (104).

i liked this book alot. it recaped the 2004 season which i followed intensely and gave details about the season that i was not aware of. fopr example the stats at the back of the book were very interesting to see. also i liked this book because i am a big Red Sox fan and i hate the New York Yankees and this book extremly favored my opinion towards this. what i liked most about this book is how it was written and the detail. it was wrtten as i diary so you get feed back for each of the writters so you can see how they feel about it and the detail made it exciting and made you want to keep on reading it.

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review.

Travel Team by Mike Lupica. Philomel Books, 2004 Genre: Fiction

The book Travel Team is a fictional book by Mike Lupica. This book is about a young boy named Danny who does not make his travel basketball team. In the small town of Middletown Danny has a lot to live up to with his days amazing basketball skills. But with Danny's dad being in town and him hearing the new decides to coach a travel team for Danny. But when Danny's dad gets in a car accident what will Danny have to do?

"Sports writer and sometime ESPN analyst Mike Lupica thoughtfully offers sports watching boys (and girls) a story with which they can relate." Sarah (goodreads.com)

Travel Team shows the way most teenagers feel about sports. I think one of the great things about this book is it gives kids something to relate to. It shows main character Danny always trying harder and harder to be better and not giving up when things get hard or when you fail.

In this book readers are able to easily follow through the the book from nobody in the books point of view. This really helps the book flow well because with the author Mike Lupica not being part of the book it is in more detail. With this you are able to know more about what is happening.

"Then Will was there, and Bren, putting Danny up on their shoulders, carrying him around the court, the way the old Vikings had carried his dad once. Danny looked down on the day and thought: So this is what is what everything looks like from up here." (274)

I am a big fan of sports so i love reading books with sports in them. particularly ones that are suspenseful. i like this books because they keep me interested the whole way through. it also make me want to continue reading. this may be why i liked this book so much because it provided both of these things. i also really enjoyed this book because of the message that the book sends. this book teaches people to never give up and always keep trying. also to keep trying even when you fail. one of my favorite parts of the book is when Ali (Danny's mom) told Danny to keep trying because even the great Michael Jordan got cut from his High School basketball team. but Michael Jordan kept trying and trying and now he is known as one of the best players in the history of basketball.

Value Essay

Stepping Up to the Plate with a Couple of Tunes

In today’s world what is it that we value the most? Some people think it is what we spend a lot of money on. This is something that we want enough that we have to buy. But others believe that it is the priceless moments in our life that we value the most. These are the moments in our lives that mean so much to us that a price couldn't be put on them.

As I pick up the aluminum bat of my choice I spit on the ground and step up to the plate. My heart pumping so much that I feel as though my shirt will move with it. I am the first up and I gotta' hit the ball far. The ball is sailing towards the plate as my dad pitches it and the game has begun. It is a hot Saturday afternoon and I am doing something that I enjoy most.

I’m playing baseball with my family and my friends. We are at my house in my big backyard. I am playing the game with my dad, two brothers, and many of our friends. The teams are spilt evenly, but as talent goes, I am sure my team will win.

Playing baseball is one of my favorite things too do because I love the sport. It also helps me get better every time I play. During the game we only keep track of is the score not time. The only reason we keep score is it gives a certain amount of bragging rights to whoever wins, and also makes the game more interesting.

After the game is over we go and sit on the porch. While we are sitting we usually talk about the great aspects the game we just played. For example some of the top catches, plays, and hits. While we sit and talk my dad makes us strawberry daiquiri’s (non alcoholic of course). The winning team gets served first and then we all relax on the porch cooling off with a round of the finest chilled beverage I have ever tasted.

As I fit the little ear buds into my ears I scroll through to find a song. When I finally find the song I click play and send music flowing through my ears. I sit back and sing a long with the new music of today. I take my thumb and bring it around the white circle clockwise turning up the volume, sending the beats pulsing through my body.

My $200 iPod is red and holds 16 gigabytes of my combination of music, TV shows, movies, and photos. It is about 3 inches long and about a half a centimeter thick. This makes my iPod easy to fit in my pocket comfortably and noticeably. It has a decent sized screen which, when turned sideways is great for watching movies on. It has the new shake feature too. This feature enables me to change the song just but shaking my iPod.

I value my iPod so immensely because of the countless hours of relaxation it gives me. It calms me down when I am upset and also provides me entertainment that I use for long car rides. Without it these rides would be very boring and seem extremely long. Whenever I cant sleep I just pull out my iPod to relax my body and get sleepy, most times I even fall asleep listening to the music on my iPod. But sometimes when I am using my phone late at night and trying to stay awake I turn the music on my iPod loud so I don’t fall asleep on the people I am talking to.

So overall what is we value most? Is it priceless moments in our life or is is the things we spend money on. I think it is both. This is because I value more than just those priceless moments. But I don’t think we have to spend thousands of dollars on something for us to value it. But I think most people value the things the cost a lot because you are not going to spend a lot of money on something you don’t even really care about.

Alfred and Ender Reunite

This essay is about two character from two different book that meet in one setting that is in one of the books. The books I read are, Enders Game and The Contender and the characters I chose are: Ender, from Enders Game and Alfred, from The Contender. This will be narrated by: Mr. Epstein from The Contender. He is the owner of the store where Alfred works. The setting in this book is New York City. This is where Alfred from the Contender lives.

I watched as Alfred left the store for the night Friday and knew I wouldn’t see him until Monday morning when his weekend was over. He looked as though he were anxious for the weekend. When I asked him why he told me his friend was coming from out of town to watch him box. The next morning when I was going for my morning walk I saw Alfred waiting at the bus stop. Then up came I bus and a young man about the age of Alfred got off. The two boys shook hands and I could see that they seemed to have a lot in common. First off the boys both looked like they had compassion. But they also looked as though they liked too fight. As I walked by I herd them talking. “Hey Ender. Long time no see. What have you been up to lately?” said Alfred. “Yea I know Alfred, and nothing. Same old.” Then they left and started walking towards Alfred’s house in New York City.

When I saw Alfred next he was with Ender and he was showing him Donatelli’s Gym. I was there helping out and talking to Donatelli. I like going to the gym. I get to see who I think is going to be the next great champ and get Donitellis opinion on who he thinks it will be. “I come and train here every night after work,” said Alfred. “well by the looks of it, it seems like you work hard here training. You’re a lot stronger since the last time I saw you,” said Ender. “yea but I don’t think you need to get any stronger, seeing as you beat a kid to death when u were only 6 years old,” said Alfred. “hey. You know that kid was a bully and I was protecting myself,” said Ender. “whatever you say man,” said Ender. Then Alfred went and showed them around the rest of the gym. When they were back they were looking in the ring and nobody was fighting in it. Then Alfred said, “ Hey. Mr. Donatelli can Ender come to my next fight?” “yeah sure Alfred he can hang out with Spoon and Jelly by the ring while me and Henry help you,” said Mr. Donatelli.


So before the next match Ender went to Spoon’s house with Henry and Ender just like he always does. But Alfred always eats early so he can digest it. Then while he took his nap Spoon, his wife Betty, Henry, and Ender ate. Then Donatelli picked them all up. All too soon the fight came and Alfred was in the ring against a quick fighter named Griffin. After a while in the match Griffin gets tired of moving so fast so he slows down. But he slowed down too much because Alfred was able to dodge a punch then hit him right in the jaw. Griffin dropped at that punch. And Alfred won by K.O. he felt really bad though because Griffin seemed to really get hurt. Ender was the first to go up to him and congratulate him. But he seemed to really enjoy the thought that Griffin might have gotten hurt bad. “did u hear it him u popped him in the jaw!” said Ender. But Alfred didn’t want to hear it. He felt bad about it.

The next day Ender had to leave to go home. “well it was nice seeing you and I’m glad you enjoyed the fight last night. You really ought to come to the city more. We never get to hang.” said Alfred. “nice seeing you too, and perfect punch. I just hope I never get hit with that! And yeah ill try too,” said Ender. “Well bye Ender,” said Alfred. “Yeah bye Alfred,” said Ender. Then as the bus pulled up the two boys shook hands. Ender got on and the bus pulled away.