The Contender pgs 142-167

Sometimes our wandering minds think alot of things, like what if we were like the characters in our book. If i wanted to b like Alfred my life would be very different. I would have to change mt whole demeanor. I would have to go from cool & collected Ramon to battering, boxing Alfred. I would be a whole different person if I was Alfred. But I think life would be a little easier for me physically. If I had a problem I could just box it out. Plus I would be in great shape. Then again I wouldn't want to wake up everyday sore either. I would want somerest sometimes. Boxing demands no rest. Working out constantly. I think I would want to stay in the world I'm in now & not jump to the world of The Contender.

The Brave

The Images to me do help me to develop in define the characters. It help me to do that because when the author tells the story about the character i can visualize him. the author make the person seem real. When i read the story its like any thing the character do i can see him doing it . when he is fighting or just talking to so one i can picture him doing it. this help me to devolope a better intrest to the book because by me being able to visualize the character i get a better understanding to the story. also it make the book seem real to me which also help me to enloy the book better

"My expectations"

My expectations for the book were pretty high because i tend to like scary movies and books even though I'm not a big book reader. The book i thought was very predictable because they dont catch the killer it just ends in a conclusion and that's always boring when books or movies end. Even though the book wasn't as good as i thought so I'm going to watch it and see Hollywood's view of the situation.

The Travel team

in the novel the travel team the book is set in a small town with a seventh grade travel team if i could change the setting in this book i would keep it in a small town or a city like buffalo to keep the under dog theme going but instead of it being a seventh grade basketball travel team i would make it a highschool team and make danny walker a highschool player who makes the teams but sits on the bench but when is called upon does his job and makes a big impact and gets his team the win kind of like what happened in reality last year with the team in sarycuse and the boy how came of the bench the coach thought the came was over because the other team was up by double digits with under 2 mins left so he put him in so that the boy could play in a real game in his highschool carear the boy ends up scoring something like 20 points and wins the game for his highschool

Travel Team

in the book the Travel Team the charcters grow as the book goes on for example in the begining of the of the book danny walker talks about how his father richue walker is never there for him for example he tells about how instead of him being able to here from his dad about how he took his travel team to nationals many years ago and won it and went on to become a college star and a stand out rookie in the nba but his carrer was cut short due to a car accident. danny tells how he learned everything about his fathers carrear from the internet. as the book goes on richie walker starts to come around his son danny more often and by the end of the novel the tell how danny is in the nathionals and is playing ithe buggest game of his life and rite there with him is his father coaching him giving him tips on what to do on the court i believe that in the novel richie walker grew the most out of any of the charcters because if that was the begining on the book richie walker would have never been there for his son

fallen angles

The setting of the book is decent to me. Walter Dean Myers uses some good details but not the greatest. I would have like for him to explain what the VC's huts looked like or there shops and tha grass and dirt. just little things i feel that could inhance the book greatly. Even How maybe their fatiuges blended in with the tall grass

fallen angels

A song i feel that coud go along with my main character Perry is "Feel it in the Air" by rapper beanie seigel. the sone is about a man that just feels like something is out to get him, whether it be a person or some type of supernatural thing he feels its after him and he may be the only one that knows it and feels it. Perry is constantly talkin about what he feels may be the next step for him and/or if he'll be around to actually make that next step. As the story continues he speaks of different thoughts in his mind about killing or bein killed and what effect it might have on his mother or little brother. Perry just recently had to kill a VC but before he did the VC's gun failed to fire, almost killing Perry. He begins to question what his purpose is there in veitnam as a matter of fact the entire army's purpose. Walter Dean Myers is great with foreshadowing i feel like something is coming for perry. he can "Feel it in the air"

Intertextuality-What do you know about the author.

What i know about Stephen King is that he like the idea of scaring the hell out of his reader in this case it's me .This suspenseful master mind was forged out the gates of Portland,Maine.Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

If you would ask any character a question, what would it be?

If i was able to ask anybody a question in the book it would be Barry because he got shot and nobody knows who it was so its quite suspenseful. Right before he got shot he got a phone call and nobody knows who it was either, so I'm just wondering who it was because they haven't let the secret out. If i can ask another character a question it would be Barry's girlfriend Julie because everyone thinks that she was the one that called Barry to come to the athletic field but everyone has there doubts because she said she didn't call him, they dont know what to believe.

The Contender pgs 126-141

I'm a little surprised with the reading I did today. With Alfred surprisingly winning his fights early. It made me wonder how will the book end if he is winning all his fights now. Usually a book ends with the main character turning it up at the end of the story. But what will happen now that he is winning at this point. I think he might not go to the next level of boxing because he also take a pounding even though he wins. I feel the fun might be taken out of the book if he quits. But he just might with him feeling sore everyday & getting his head bashed in during fights. I think the story will lose some of its exictment.

The Shining-Conflict

Problems the Jack faces in this story he loses his job, and becomes a disgraced teacher in the eyes of the public. The people believe that he is nothing but a former alcoholic
and writer. so he takes a job as a caretaker of Overlook Hotel in Denver,Colorado This is where Jack brings his wife Wendy and son Danny for the winter because Jack needs the job.Which closes for the winter due to heavy snow storm weather. Unknowing the hotel has a history of violence the past caretaker killed his wife and two daughter.So ultimately the spirits linger in the hotel and if a spirit does not want you there in their place of rest they will let you know.
So knowing that the spirit of the former caretaker takes control of Jack and things get a little weird...

The Travel Team

In the novel The Travel Team author Mike Lupica emphasizes on the fact that the main charcter danny walker is very short but is talented but because of his hight is kept from playingbasket ball on his his towns travel team. i belieave that the point that the author is trying to get across is that sometimes things are done not for the rite reason for example but for self interest for example the travel team wante to get bigger so they substituted size for talent because danny wasnt bigger he never got a fair chance in the tryouts. An example of this in society today is that some people not everyone but some people believe that wemon cant do the same jobs as men because they are wemon i my self believe that everyone should be given the same chance as the next person no matter if they are big small

The Contender pgs105-125

Main characters always have a motive in a story. With The Contender Alfred wants to just become more than worker at a pharmacy. In fact he would like to become a champion fighter & like to move his aunt & siblings out of the slums to a better neighborhood. When he gets up every mourning just to do extra running to be in better shape, u can tell he is fousced on what he wants to accomplish. But he just wants to make something out of himself in the future for him, his aunt, his siblings, other family & his peers. To make them look up to him as a positive figure & a sucess.

The Brave

The character experience in the story did not help him to grow. I think it made him change even more. In the story the boy got involve with the wrong people which led him to go to jail. By him getting involve with these people he change which did not allow him to grow because he could of got out of every thing if he talk to the cop. By him not saying any thing trying to prove him self to these ones he got involve with, which they were just using him he went to jail. I think that made him not grow because Even though he kind of new that they were using him he still did not talk in was willing to go to jail for someone and something he did not really no about. So i fell by leting him self go to jail for someone else he did not grow at all.

The Shining

Imagine a world where stress overcame you and you lost all control of your emotions.
Well in "The Shining" a man named Jack is having a hard time at work so he takes his wife and son to a hotel to spend a weekend.....But thing turn for the worst.
Written by Stephen King "master of terror'.

So far the book is quite dull an unexplainable.Not much has happened to tell except that his boss is giving him the third degree about responsibility.You know being on time,customers,sales things of that sort.

Fallen Angles

I really enjoy this novel simply because the characters seem real and believable. Although i cannot relate to their situation, i can feel what they feel. As the story progresses you find that perry becomes more comfortable with his surroudings. He seems to mature mentally. It may have been the amount of death around him. You cant be weak in that enviorment. Perry is the main one telling the story through his eyes. He is a great narrator and tells the story well

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

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<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

The Contender pgs 53-104

Characters usually change throughout every story, with The Contender it is the same. At the start of this book Alfred (main character) was a timid teenager. But now he boxes & it has changed his whole demeanor. He has become a little more wild even going to parties, drinking & smoking. But before boxing he was very timid & didn't party at all. With people showing attention to you it changes you as a whole person & makes you different. Because with him boxing people were showing attention & appreciation. That made Alfred a whole different person.

The Brave

Through out the the story the character change from a person who wanted to find his mom to a person who did not care about any thing. This change his course in the story because the characters he meet in new york got him to do things which got him in trouble. They had him do runs which he got caught by undercover cops. When sonny was taken to jail he did not talk because he thought they were his friends a specially the girl Doll so he did not tell on them. The cop knew he knew where they was hiding at but sonny did not talk. The head cop told him that he new all about Doll in stick that they pick out people in offer them the opportunity to make some money in give them a 100 dollar bill to start them off but it be a counterfit. Sonny still did not believe the cop in did not talk so the cop put him in jail. This had a change on the character in many ways which effecte his course in the story

Travel Team, Mike Lupica, pg 1-57

In the the nvoel theTravel Team to of the main charcters Danny Walker and Richie Walker relate very well to how the game of basketball has changed over the years Richie walker is a former star athlete who in his day and time was a prototypical point gaurd small in stachure could handle the ball very well hit the open shots and be an extension of the coach on the court. Now his son danny on the other hand is the same type of player his father that his dad is small flashy popint gaurd can handle the rock and do the exact things his father use to do but the difference in the two is that in Richie Walkers day and time a small flashy point gaurd was good but over the years the small flashy ppoint gaurd was replaced by the bigger stronger gaurd. this situation relates perfectly to today where in the in basketball size is everything

How experiences affect people

My blog response question is"Do the characters experiences cause them to grow? If so, how? I thnk that the characters in my story dont learn from there mistakes because as they know that the killer in the story is after them they dont go to extreme procautions and try different stuff instead of running. Im not very far in my book but so far they know the person is after them and there tryin to find out who it is because they believe that all of this is a joke from little kid tryin to play a practical prank on them. So i think they dont learn from there experiences because all they do is run and try to be clever in tryin to figure out who is the killer is and the answer is right in there face.

Fallen Angels pages 1-120

So far I'm really enjoying this novel, it has everything i look for in a story. Great characters, Great storyline as well as great language it's modern and that's a good quality. In the story we meet perry an easy going well kept man who wants to find who he is while fighting in Vietnam. Along side him is "Peewee" a gun ho wild man with nothing to lose. I seemed to be pulled to these two characters simply because they're the two who talk the most and are the younger ones of their army company. Peewee is more easygoing and nonchalant about whats going on around him. He seems to want to kill every Vietcong there. Perry has more reasoning skills out of the two. he realizes that he is in a war only because he didn't have anything to do back home, a lot of solders did this. As you read on you find out that perry is trying to find himself and doesn't even know where to start. I feel somewhat of a connection to that because i myself want to know my own purpose...

The Contender pgs 1-52

Now i am somewhat far in my book, I look forward to learning about how the main character (Alfred) will handle present & future problems, & how he will do it. Since Alfred got jumped in the beginning I think he will have to face his enemies in the future. I think it will be handled differently because he won't be so passive now that he takes up boxing. With Alfred I think he is passive, non-agressive, & timid so he might not fight back. But boxing can change ur whole attitude & how u see things. I think this boxing practice might make Alfred more physical, stronger, meaner, & braver. He might jump into more things now that he has fighting confidence. Alfred might face some pesonality issuse because of boxing too. He might get to confident after beating someone & stop his hardwork & training. He might get too crazy for his own good. Or he might go overboard with his punching power & become a bully & treat people how he was treated.

I know what u did last summer, Lois Duncan, pgs 1-18

My book is very interesting and its quite mind opening. The book so far is about a girl named Julie that got a letter from someone that wrote in the letter "i know what you did last summer" and then sealed it.She just got accepted to college so she is happy, when she received that letter she called her friend Helen and Barry to ask them if they were the ones that sent her this letter as a practical joke. They think it might be someone named Ray because he was there when all of this happened. I'm going to continue reading unto I'm done with the book and I'll keep you posted on what is going to happen next.

The Brave

The brave by Robert Lipsyte have many things that connect to life today. In the book the main Character is Sonny. Sonny is a Indian who live on the reservation with his great grandfather who pursue him to be a boxer.After his fight against a farm boy which sonny got cheated out the fight he realize that he did not want to box any more. He wanted to go to the city to find his mother who had to give sonny up because she could not take care of him at the time. sonny grandfather Jake told Sonny that he can not go because he could not go live with his mom to he was 18 but Sonny left any way after along bus ride he was greeted by some character one which name was Doll and the other Stick who don't seem to be good but he still hang with them. Getting in to trouble fighting cops put sonny in jail. The head cop let sonny go because he new he was not from there, after getting out of jail sonny got back with Doll took him around to meet some more people. This book so far connect to life because Many people today Leave home in go places they don't no about in get caught up with the wrong people today that get them into trouble

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

Intoducing My Novel

I am reading The Contender , by Robert Lipsyte. This book is about a teenager who is tired of getting bullied so he starts to box. I like the constant action of this book. It is intresting early in the book. Ramon B.

I know what u did last summer

My book is "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER"is about four friends that were tryin to conceal a secret about some crazed maniac. They make a attempt to but someone learns there secret and the horror is about to begin again.

Efrain Alvarez 3

Intrducing My Novel

My novel THE BRAVE by ROBERT LIPSYTE is about a boy named sonny who live with his grandfather who wanted him to box. After he have Been cheated out the fight he realized he did not want to do it any more. I like the book so far because it is very interesting

preveiw of my book

I'm currently reading Fallen angels by Walter Dean myers. Its a book set in the time of the veitnam war. So far its very interesting and i"m excited about reading this book

intro to my novel

My novel the Travel Team is about a boy named Danny who trys out for his seventh grade travel team but is cut because of his size not because of his skill set his father is a famous basketball player who once led this same travel team to the national championship and won it many years ago

So far i like my novel one of the main things i like about this novel is how they make the main charcter have all the skills in the world to be a good pointgaud but is cut because he is to short

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...

Welcome

Hello folks. I just wanted to give you a hearty welcome to the
blogosphere (the world of weblogs, according to my widget dictionary).

I'm going to send you more meaty information in the next few days
(right now I'm testing out the "mail to blogger" option I told some
of you about today).

But for now, I want to talk to you about grammar and conventions.
These are blogs for my English class, and I expect you to follow the
rules of standard English as best as you can. Some of our previous
rm305 blog discussions were replete with mistake after mistake. You
may IM your friends and write on Myspace one way, but on these blogs
we are going to assume a more academic diction.

Thanks for the help. If you have any questions, let me know.