The Old Man and the Sea Essay

Ayo Santiago!

In everyday life, people have obstacles they have to get by. These obstacles range from getting out of bed to swerving out of the way of a drunk driver. These obstacles can be basic obstacles or they can be life threatening. In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, the old man, Santiago, has many obstacles and struggles he has to get by. He has struggles such as his bleeding hand and the size of the fish, to the 1^st shark to attack him, to losing his strength and fighting his tiredness. The old man has many struggles in The Old Man and the Sea.

Santiago’s first obstacle he encounters is his hand which could be considered to be in critical state. Throughout the story, his hand begins to bleed and cramp as he is holding onto the marlin. “He felt the line carefully with his right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding.” (56) Imagine you in the old man’s position. I would feel hopeless trying to hang onto a monstrous marlin with a cramped and cut open right hand. Santiago was one devoted dude.

Another obstacle put in front of the old man was the first shark that tried taking his fish. Not that all of the other sharks weren’t obstacles, the first one was the most significant. “He hit it [the shark] with his blood meshed hands driving a good harpoon with all his strength. He hit it without hope but with resolution and complete malignancy.” (102) The shark was real agressive but it did not threaten the old man. The man was not satisified when he killed the shark because he felt as if he killed a brother. The shark beat the man down not only physically, but mentally. The shark beat him down physically because of all the energy and strength it took to kill it. But mentally, he couldn’t get the thought out of his head that there would be more and more sharks coming. Then he realized he wasn’t prepared. He just used his only harpoon to kill the shark and all he has left is the oar and his knife to kill the rest of the skarks. That is how the shark was an obstacle to the old man.

The third obstacle put in front of the old man was the size of the marlin. “But he [the marlin] was that big and at the end of this circle he came to the surface only 30 yards away and the man saw his tail out of the water” (90) The size of the fish was definitely an obstacle. In the book, Hemingway describes the fish and being over 18 feet long and over 1500 pounds. The old man usually has no problem getting in a fish but the size of this fish really beat the old man down. He was out to sea 4 days with the fish just trying to pull him in. The fish made him real tired and it weakened his strength real fast. That brings me to the old man’s next obstacle.

Throughout the experience of the old man pulling in the fish, he loses his strength and he gets real tired real fast. “He felt very tired now and he knew the night would come soon and he tried to think of other things.” (67) Santiago was out to sea for 4 days trying to pull in one fish with some line and a rope with barely any sleep. The man actually got so sleep deprived that he actually started talking to himself telling himself he wasn’t going crazy. So all of the obstacles I have talked about so far actually have played a role in making him weak and tired. That was a 4^th obstacle the man went through in The Old Man and the Sea.

In conclusion, the old man had many obstacles and struggles throughout the story. He had the shark and the marlin to deal with, also he had his hand and his endurance to deal with. Santiago held tough throughout the whole process of getting the fish. Even though he held tough, his fish still got stolen from all from all of the sharks attacking it. Santiago should be respected for everything he went through. Although the boy did admire him. It goes to show, hard work does pay off, but it can all be stolen just like that.

3rd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

3rd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordain. Hyperion Books, 2009. Genre: Fantasy Fiction

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordain is the 5th book in his “Percy Jackson series”. This series is mainly based on Greek mythology. Percy Jackson (the main character) is a sophomore in high school who is the son of Poseidon and because of that he has much strength and magical powers. In this book, Mt. Olympus which is located on the 600th floor of the Empire State building, the home to all of the gods, is under attack by Kronos’s army. Kronos is the Titan of time. Mt. Olympus is virtually unprotected because all of the Gods are out attacking Typhon, the greatest Titan of them all. So Percy and all of his half-blood friends are Mt. Olympus’s only defense. Throughout the book, there is a lot of action and Percy and Annabeth have a little bit of romance going on. So there is a lot of fighting and war but also a tad of romance thrown in there.
“Look no further for the next Harry Potter; meet Percy Jackson, as legions of fans already have.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Last Olympian is definitely for people who are interested in Greek mythology and war. It seems so realistic the way it is written and it is just such a great book. It closely relates to Riordain’s last book The Battle of the Labyrinth This book is just the continuation of the last 4 books and is probably the greatest one. Percy’s army is outnumbered 25 to 1 and Percy knows he will not win the fight. So throughout the story, Percy does some pretty epic things to even out the odds a little bit. He makes a few deals and does a couple crazy things but by the end of the story, it was all worth it.
The Last Olympian is written in 1st person from Percy’s point of view. This allows for the reader to feel what Percy feels and see what Percy sees. The way Riordain writes it, it almost makes you feel you are in the story right beside Percy fighting every step of the way with him. Also, he makes it so you never want to put the book down. You would usually think the end of a chapter is a good stopping point. Well Riordain makes it so you never want to put it down because he will end the chapter starting a new very interesting scene going into the next. He does a great job writing this book.
“I could hear it getting closer. My friends needed help. I jumped on Blackjack, and we flew north toward the sound of explosions.”(254)
I chose this quote to show a sense of the author’s writing style and how interesting the book was. This quote was the last sentence in a chapter. This is what I meant how he would start a brand new action packed scene at the end of a chapter so you would never want to put the book down. Also, just look at how interesting that looks. That is why I read this book so fast.
I may be one of the biggest fans you will ever find of Rick Riordain’s books. His books are so great and inspiring and I love the genre and the topic all of his books are about. Once you read the first book, you will want to read all of the rest the next day. It is really that great of a series. I wish one day I could be in Percy’s shoes because it would be pretty cool to be a half-blood. I would recommend this book to anybody!

*****-5 Stars
-Goon

Short Story

Rags to Riches by Tommy G.

“No Tiana, I will not take out the trash! I have to go to school.” “No! You can just pick it up on the way out the door!” Tiana said.
This is how Julian and Tiana usually started off their days. They would always be arguing. So today they were arguing about the trash.
“No, I’m not taking out the trash. Do it yourself you old bag! I’m leaving. Bye.” And that was the last thing Julian said to Tiana.

Julian is a 16 year old African-American living in Harlem New York. Some of his friends call him tenacious because he is so persistant and never gives up on anything. His parents died when he was young so he has been getting raised by his aunt Tiana for the past 14 years. Him and his aunt argue about everything, but deep down inside they know they love each other. So Julian goes to school at Jefferson High School and he is a junior there in 11th grade. Julian is a B and C student but is also one of the more popular kids in school. But today isn’t any ordinary day, and Julian is soon going to find that out.

As Julian is sitting half way through his D block which is chemistry, he gets a call to be dismissed. So he packs up all of his things and heads down to the office. When he gets their, he is greeted by a very cool state trooper who goes by the name of Jon. When Julian first meets Jon, he thought he was in trouble, but soon realizes he has some tragic news. Jon said that Julian’s aunt Tiana had been shot walking into Walmart. As soon as Julian hears the news, he feels confounded. He feels confused because he doesn't know why anyone would so this. But the his heart sinks, he feels doleful and he falls to the ground crying. He almost seemed puerile or childish. His first thoughts were he should have been nicer to her. All he could think about was how mean he was to her today, yelling at her and not taking out the trash. So then the cop asks him if he has any place to stay.

Julian said “I have a friend who lives on the other side of Harlem, his name is Jose. Jon said “Can I give you a ride?” Julian replies “That would be helpful”.

On the car ride over, it was very quiet and awkward. Julian didn’t know what to think after everything he had just heard.

“Thanks for the ride Jon…” “No problem kid, if you have any problems you call me, ok?” “Yes sir” replies Julian.

So Julian goes and knocks on the door and Jose answers. Julian just walks in and Jose already knows what has happened because he saw it on the news. Now Jose deplores to Julian, expressing his regret.

“I’m sorry for your loss bro” Jose said. “Thanks” Julian said.

Now Julian already knows that Jose is the leader of a gang called the Street Kings. So he has a feeling Jose is going to ask him to join.

“Hey J, I know the man who shot your aunt….” Jose said. “Who is it!?” Julian replies furiously. “His name is Pablo Montoya. He is a member of our rival gang, The Mexicanas.” “Ok I’m just going to ask you, can I join your gang and get revenge on him!?” “That is cool with me…..But to be in the gang you have to be fully committed and sell at least 5 G’s worth of drugs a month.” “Aiight Jose, just as long as I get a gun.” “I got you brah.” “Thanks”.

Now it has been a month said Julian’s aunt has died and Julian now realizes it was a bad choice to join the gang. He feels morosed or depressed. He has dropped out of high school and is slowly getting no where in life and he knows it. So one day he confronts Jose and asks him if he can leave the gang. Jose says no and if you do you die. Jose is very immutable and will never change his ways. Also, Jose is showing how fickle he is, lacking loyalty. So Julian, feeling provoked by the offer, says he wont leave to avoid being killed on the spot.

Now it is July 30, 2012 and it is Julian’s birthday, and this will be a birthday he will never forget. Julian goes to the corner of E 114 S and N 47 St where there stands waiting one his normal customers who goes by the name of Dk. Dk has $750 waiting to give to Julian in exchange for the drugs. When they are standing on that corner dealing drugs, a black Cadillac Escalade is driving slowly down the E 114 St. Then all of a sudden the passenger side window rolls down and it is Pablo. When Julian sees Pablo, he reaches for his gun but is too late. Pablo sticks his gun out of the window and fires 3 bullets at Julian. The 1st two hit Dk and he is killed but the third one hits Julian in the upper left shoulder and the Escalade speeds away. Julian falls to the ground, then reaches for his cell phone and calls Jon. Julian knows Pablo shot him because he knew Julian was out to seek revenge on him, but Julian feels like an anathema or someone who is cursed. He feels like he should of knew he was coming. He considers Pablo to be a malefactor. But then Jon shows up and upon seeing Julian, he sees a gun on the ground and drugs in his pockets. So Jon brings him to the hospital to get him all fixed up and they head down to the local police station. Their Julian admits it was his gun and drugs. Jon takes him aside and tries to make a deal with him.

Jon says “I can put you in prison for 3 years for what you had in possession, or you can do this. You move to another state and finish high school and finish an 8 year college to become a doctor which will all be paid for. So what is your choice?” “I’ll do the second choice you gave me… But what state am I moving to?” “ You will be going to Connecticut and finishing off high school at New Haven High School and then you will be going to Yale University for a Doctorate degree. How does that sound?” “That sounds fine with me.”

While going through high school and college, Julian has no problems and ten years later, Julian graduates from Yale University. Julian sends in an application to work at Boston Hospital as a radiologist which is someone who studies pictures taken from a patient’s body. They ask Julian to come to the hospital a week later for an interview. After the interview is done, they offer to pay him $380,000 a year. He happily concurs and then flies back to Harlem to talk to Jon. He talks to Jon for a quick 20 minutes and was very loquacious. Julian tells him how he did at the interview and how much he thanks Jon for what he did. When the conversation was over, Julian flew back to Boston and rented a condo near the TD Banknorth Garden so he can go see the Celtics whenever he feels like it.

So that night, Julian bought a Celtic’s ticket to go see them play the Cleveland Cavaliers. While sitting in the stands, he thinks about how crazy his life was and how lucky he has been to be where he is now. He starts to think more sanguine or optomistic for a moment. He starts to think how well his future is looking. He assuages or feels relieved at the thought. But as soon as the referee blew his whistle to start the game, he took everything off his mind and sat back and relaxed and watched the Celtics win.

2nd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

2nd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

A Table in The Presence by LT. Carey H. Cash. W Publishing Group, 2004.
Genre: Biography.

A Table in The Presence is the first book I have ever read by Lt. Carey H. Cash. It is about Lt. Carey H. Cash (Chaplain) in the United States Marines and his story on the Iraq war. A chaplain is basically a trained soldier that is also a priest and goes to war a preaches to soldiers. The book is based around right when the war started and gives a very detailed picture in your mind about what war is like. There are many 1st person moments in the story that make it very realistic and almost like you are there. The Protagonist would be the U.S. Marine Corp. and the antagonist would be the Iraq army. It takes place in Iraq and the conflict is the war between the U.S. and Iraq.

“Lieutenant Cash has crafted a dramatic chronicle of courage and a testament of faith under fire that is a stirring as it is eloquent. It is a ‘must read’ for those who want to understand the war we are in and the warriors who are defending us.”
-Oliver North

A Table in The Presence gives the reader a very detailed picture in his/her mind on how serious this war is. It gives 1st person accounts and soldiers stories when in Iraq. The chaplain is an important figure to people because he gives people a sense of faith and protectiveness from God. I can relate this to a book I read a while ago about a soldier in the front lines of World War II. The only difference between these two books is Lt. Cash isn’t necessarily in the front lines like this soldier was.

A Table in The Presence is told in 1st person point of view from Lt. Cash’s eyes. Some parts of the book get very graphic but make all the more interesting. The author relates to god and has passages of the bible a lot through out the whole book. Also the author uses very big vocabulary. There was one part where a guy was driving through Iraq under heavy fire and the soldier right next to him. That soldier was Captain Bohr. Gunny Bohr was known from everyone throughout all the companies. When his death was announced over the radio, everyone was in shock. But it was amazing how detailed the driver of that AAV was about that. It’s little things like that, that make the book so interesting.

“Alpha Company’s lead AAV’s had just cleared the apartment complexes on the inside of the city limits. All at once, with a gut-wrenching crack, the first .762 round of enemy AK-47 fire broke through the silence of the night. It slammed into the side of Second Lieutenant Andrew Terrell’s AAV.”(181) This shows how realistic and detailed this book is.

After reading A Table in The Presence, I had a new aspect on the war in Iraq. It’s not like a video game where when you die you come right back, when you die you are gone forever. It made me realize that war is not childish but more for true warriors. I would love to read another book by Lt. Carey H. Cash because of how realistic he made it feel. He changed my whole aspect on war and gave me the truth about what Iraq is like. I would recommend this book to any of my friends who want to learn what war is really like. Lt. Cash did a really good job telling his 1st person point of view on the war in Iraq.

-***** FIVE STARS

-Goon

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

The Battle of The Labyrinth by Rick Riordain. Hyperion Books, 2008. Genre: Fantasy Fiction

The Battle of The Labyrinth by Rick Riordain is the fourth book in a series of five books that is based around Greek mythology. This book is about a fourteen year old boy named Percy Jackson, who is the son of Poseidon, the water god, and due to that fact he has magical powers. Basically, Percy’s best friend Annabeth is sent out on a quest to the out the Labyrinth. Annabeth asks Percy, Tyson (Percy’s brother, which is a Cyclops), and Grover (Percy’s other friend) to go with her. The Labyrinth is an underground maze that is home to many mythological creatures. While down in the labyrinth, many unsuspecting things happen to these four.

"Look no further for the next Harry Potter, meet Percy Jackson, as legions of fans already have" -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“I had no choice. I called to the sea. I reached inside myself and remembered the waves and the currents, the endless power of the ocean. And I let loose in one horrible scream.” This was a very important part of the story. This was when Percy was sent by Hephaestus to seek through Mt. Helens and see if anybody was there. When Percy was cornered by some of the gods, he went crazy and let out unbelievable power and blew up the whole entire mountain. That is why I chose this quote.

The author has a very good writing style. He has a way of keeping you engaged with the story. The story is written from a first-person point of view. It is as if you are in Percy Jackson’s body the whole story which makes it that much more interesting. At the end of each chapter, which is usually a good stopping point when reading a book, the author ends each chapter with you thinking what is going to happen next. That is a good quality because I didn’t want to put the book down at all!

“As we ran, I could hear the disorganized sounds of an entire army trying to jump out of the stands and follow us.” That was the last sentence in one of the chapters. Now, if you’ve been reading this book and a big action scene starts to happen in a chapter and then all of a sudden the chapter ends but the action resumes on the next chapter, of course you’re going to keep reading! It is also very hard to stop in the middle of a chapter so when you start the next chapter, of course your going to finish it. So this made you not want to ever put the book down.

I am a huge fan of Rick Riordain’s books. In fact, I have now read the first four books in his series of five and I hope to read the fifth one very soon. If I had to give his books a rating on a scale of one to five stars, I would give him 5 stars. So in conclusion, I would recommend this book to a reader of any type due to the fact that this book was insanely good!

*****- Five Stars
-Goon

Value Essay

A Workout Can Take A Rest Every Now And Then

The definition of value is the estimated or assigned worth of an object. If you can't put a price tag on something can it have value? According to this definition, a priceless moment can't have value because you can't "assign worth" to it. But in all reality, somethings that are priceless, are actually more valueable to us even if they aren't worth any money! So if you think about it, this definition isn't actually one-hundred percent true!

I brush my teeth and I put in my mouthwash. I swish and gargle and swish and gargle and then spit out into the sink. I put in my elastics which are going to help straighten out my teeth. Then I walk out of the bathroom and turn to my right and see my favorite room of the house, my bedroom. I walk into my room and turn to my bureau. I open up the drawer and take out a pair of shorts and take off my clothes from the day and put on my nice comfy basketball shorts.

I take a dive onto the queen size bed I have in my room. As soon as I hit the mattress, its blankets wrap around me and I feel as if I’m in the clouds. Maybe I’ll pull my Ipod off its docking station and listen to a couple tunes. That’s only if I’m not very tired or exhausted. Sometimes listening to my Ipod takes my mind off the world. But let’s get back to the main picture here. My bed is probably my favorite valuable possession I have. It weighs in around five hundred smackaroos but too me, it is worth every penny.

My bed helps me rest and get away from the world after a long, hardworking day of school. Sometimes I will do a little late night texting but I’ll call it a night when I start seeing three phones in my hand. When I turn on my fan, get under all the blankets and try to conserve my body heat as best as possible, I start feeling thankful for living the way I do. I get to sleep in a queen size bed in a nice warm, insulated and heated house with a good family. My bed, is definitely my most favorite possession due to the fact that it lets me relax, get away from everything, and it let’s me think about what’s going on in my life.

I’m sitting at my desk doing my homework, when I hear the front door unlock and the boots start walking down the hall. I already know what’s coming in about five minutes. I see my dad walk into his bedroom and I can hear getting changed out of his D.O.C. uniform and into a pair of running shorts and a white t-shirt. He walks into the room I’m doing my homework and all he says is “you down?” Now after working out with my dad so many times, and him saying the same phrase every time he wants to workout, I already know what he means. No explanation is needed. So I moan and groan but I manage to get out “sure...” I tell him not to start without me and he says ok. I run up to my room and I get my school clothes off and I throw on a pair of beat-up shorts and a white t-shirt. I throw my phone on my bed and run down downstairs into the basement. As always, he is waiting for me.

We start off with our ritual, of doing anywhere between fifty to one hundred perfect push-ups on the carpet. Then we move into the weight room. He starts off on the all in one gym first and I pick up the always reliable curl bar. The bar has fifteen pounds on each side of it which adds up to thirty pounds. Add that with the bar and it is around thirty-five to forty pounds I am curling. I usually do thirty to seventy reps with that. Then when my dad is done with the all in one gym I move onto it and he does wrist curls. I will most likely either bench-press or do pull downs. When I am done with those, I will finish off the work-out with probably thirty wrist curls and chug down a bottle of water.

Now, working-out with my dad isn’t just a time to get stronger. It is one of the only times me and my dad actually talk man-to-man. This would be the time when I tell him if I have any problems. My dad is a hard-working man and is actually a lieutenant for the Connecticut Department of Correction at the Osborne Correctional Institution. Due to the fact that this is one of the few times my dad and I get a chance to talk man-to-man. This is definitely my most favorite priceless moment I will ever have in my life.

So after a long day of school and working out, my bed is definitely the place my body deserves to be. My body needs rest and it is exhausted. So even though working out may make my body soar and a long day of school may make me exhausted, my bed balances out everything. A nice comfortable long night of sleep takes away the soreness in my body and gets me ready for the next day ahead of me.

So in conclusion, my most favorite valuable possession is definitely my bed and that weighs in around five hundred dollars. My most favorite priceless moment is working out with my dad. No doubt about that. So when I hear the door open, and the boots walking ‘round, I know it’s time to get ready, and hear the good old phrase, “you down?”