old man and the sea.

To create a piece of literature you need a main character to defeat a conflict. This conflict can be major or there can be many little obstacles in the piece. In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the wisely devoted fisherman, faces many complex conflicts. For example Santiago faces obstacles like the powerful marlin, the sharks that are attacking his best catch, and the ongoing time that does nothing but hurts Santiago.

The first conflict is the marlin. Santiago really has to fight hard against this massive creature. The fish weighs approximately 1000 pounds and is very strong so Santiago has to be cautious about what he does. He doesn’t want to go anywhere near the fisherman and fights patiently and confidently for numerous days out at sea. This continuous fighting, even through dark eerie nights, really wears out Santiago. It makes him weak but he continues to battle the fish “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought.” (92) This quote shows how much power Santiago new the fish had. Santiago is an optimistic old man out at sea fishing alone. He gets very lonely and has a very petite boat which shouldn’t be meant for the sea. With this fish Santiago could have an amazing outcome but if the marlin finds a way to defeat him, it will all wash away to sea.

Another conflict that occurs in the story is the aggressive sharks. These violent looking and acting creatures are continuously attacking. The only thing Santiago can do is fight back. He doesn’t have many weapons but he doesn’t just give up. He defends himself and the fish with a harpoon and a club. This works until one shark actually gets a piece of the defenseless marlin and it bleeds. The blood attracts a bigger crowd of sharks which makes it even harder for Santiago. Santiago’s weapons eventually get stuck in the sharks as it says here: “But the shark jerked backwards as he rolled and the knife blade snapped.” (111) The sharks overpower him and eat the flesh off the bones of the marlin.

The final conflict that affects and hurts Santiago is time. Time was something that Santiago could never stop. It was very threatening to him because there is nothing and nobody that can defend them selves against time. As the days dragged on, Santiago because tiered from staying up, weak from fighting the marlin, and exhausted from a mix of those. The hours of fighting wore Santiago down progressively and not once did he get a break from the time passing. For example this next quote states how long the fish has been swimming steadily out to sea. “But fours hours later the fish was still swimming steadily out to sea, towing the skiff, and the old man was still braced solidly with the line across his back.” (45)

As you can see, there were many conflicts that you can find in The Old Man and the Sea. Every story has a main character and at least one conflict. This problem gets either defeated or undefeated. In Santiago’s case, he defeated the marlin but, couldn’t conquer the sharks very quickly, and for sure couldn’t do anything about time.

Third Quarter Outside Reading Book

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Warner Books, 2004. Genre: Realistic fiction


This book is about a summer that two people always whished to remember. A boy name Noah and a girl named Allie fell in love. They both came from two totally different families and had to sneak out most of the time to see each other. Allies parents have a hard time excepting Noah and are trying hard to get her not to like him because they are just in New Bern for the summer. They story goes on and Allie and Noah get into a fight right before Allie leaves. Allie writes letters but never mails them. In the end Allie gets engaged and ends up visiting New Bern and going back to Noah. They fall in love deeper this time and Allie has to make the decision of who she wants to spend the rest of her life with.
"A one-night read. . . Sparks generates authentic emotional power. . . If you are in need of a good cry, THE NOTEBOOK is absolutely the right book."
-- USA Today
The writing style of the book flows perfectly. Everything about it makes you want to keep reading it and it’s very hard to put down. This book doesn’t just ramble on about nonsense there is always something interesting and exciting going on.
I found this book easy to understand but a bit hard to follow. If I hadn’t seen the movie I couldn’t have gotten how Allie had forgotten everything in her life and Noah was the one reading and narrating this to her. This book really made me sad but also was so happy. It had a heartbreaking ending that was not expected.
“The hurt began to fade and it was easier to just let go. At least I thought it was. But in every boy I met in the next few years, I found myself looking for you, and when the feelings got too strong I'd write you another letter. But I never sent them, in fear of what I might find. By then, you'd gone on with your life and I didn't want to think about you loving someone else. I wanted to remember us like we were that summer. I didn’t want to ever forget that.” (174).
I loved this book because it was such an amazing story. This book made me realize that you should really just follow your heart no matter what people say. That what Allie did and people got hurt but realized it was the right choice. I really liked the way that Sparks chose to write this story and I am definitely going to read the sequel to The Notebook.