Foot Steps in the Sand

Who knows where these indentations came from?
When nobody knows is when you say umm.
It looks like two people walked together.
We may not find out until forever.

It is nice and peaceful out on this beach.
I wish I was there enjoying a peach.
The Caribbean water looks so great.
Living on a beach like this is my fate.

If I lived here I would never get bored.
It would be am incredible reward.
A place like this is only in my dreams.
My dreams are always, completely, extremes.

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.

Short Story

It was a Friday night after Ethan’s violin lesson. Ethan is a very involved artist who spends a good deal of his time deftly playing his violin. As he was approaching the dark and scary stair well to go down to the “Black Tar’s” hangout, he got chills that traveled up his spine. Ethan had done over 100 deals of heroin before but he felt as if someone was watching him this time. He was very furtive, seeing that his father Ralph was a cop. He had been doing this for a while because of the quandary he had about getting enough money to go to a decent college. Ethan had a yen to go to college and gravely wanted to become a musician.

As Ethan crept down the squeaky stairwell to approach the door it opened right before he had a chance to knock. This startled Ethan as his eyes grew wide and Brad said, “We have been expecting you, were running low on our goods.”

So Ethan quickly removed the tubes from out of his mouth, dried off his saliva and exchanged Brad, the bursar, for the money. Then Justin came running quickly to the door yelling, “Yeah man totally, I’ve been suffering down here waiting for our stuff, but we need to talk to you.”

“Alright Justin what’s up?” said Ethan.

“Well, we think we have someone who is catching on to us, like someone who will bust us if he really finds out what we do.”

“Oh no, this will definitely need to be kept quiet. My dad will not be very happy if he finds out about this,” exclaimed Ethan.

“Well we have to be serious about this. I noticed a suspicious looking car pulling away the past three times after you leave from ours deals man, it’s not good” insisted Justin. “ I think you may have to take care of him, I mean it’s the only way to get rid of him.”

“I can’t believe this is happening, I don’t know if I can do this” said Ethan terrifyingly.

Justin grabbed Ethan by the collar of his shirt and whispered in his ear, “You might want to think about that answer and tell me again if you will do what it takes to get rid of the man who is watching us.”

“Ok ok,” Ethan concurred, “I will I promise just don’t hurt me I need this money to go to college.”

“Wow,” Justin said to the gang, “look at this superfluous achiever gaining money to go to college.”

“What a fag,” they all laughed.

Ethan grabbed his stuff and ran out of their hangout. What a blasphemous he thought, he had had enough of them for the night. He couldn’t stop thinking about who might be watching them as he got home. “Anything wrong?” said Ethan’s mother, “You look puzzled.”

“No nothings wrong just a long class tonight, that’s all.”

“Oh alright son, if you need anything I’ll be in my room.”

“Ok thanks mom,” managed Ethan.

That night Ethan received the dreaded phone call he wasn’t thrilled to answer. It was Brad and Justin who told him that he had to act fast because the man came and questioned them. They said he was a suspicious looking guy who wasn’t dressed like a cop or anything. They told him that they were going to plan the attack. There was a tall abandoned edifice across the street where Ethan would be positioned with a rifle, they would fake a deal at the normal time but Ethan wouldn’t be doing it. Another member from the gang would and once he left Ethan would shoot, as the man who lurked in the dark car speeds away.

This was not something that Ethan was looking forward to, but if it meant he had to do it for college then he would. Ethan couldn’t believe what he got himself into.

The next night rolled around Ethan started to get very nervous. This was going to be a very bad quagmire. He started second guessing himself but realized college meant everything to him. He left the house with his mom thinking he was going to class, but really he was going to take his position.

Once he arrived he got ready and tried not to think, only about college and how much he needed to go. The whole world seemed distant to him. Then the dark car arrived and the “deal” went on, but this time the man got out of his car. Ethan didn’t think and just stooped low, aimed and without looking fired. Quickly he rose and looked right as the man fell into the light of the street light. Pallor began to fill Ethan’s face, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Ethan felt major rage, regret, and anger. That very second Ethan realized that he couldn’t live with this; he couldn’t live with the fact that he had murdered his own father. With the second pull of the trigger Ethan’s future was gone, it was that simple.

The next morning Ethan and his father Ralph had made the front headline of the paper. Ethan had always wanted to become famous, but not for homicide and then suicide. This unheralded event changed the lives of the people who loved them, forever.

Value Essay

Summer Experiences

In this 21^st century it seems to me that people value money with something almost like an obsession. It seems that its all people care about. How do you value the things without a price? Do you even value them? I think very few people know the true meaning of value. Value is the importance, worth, or utility of something. How can you say how much you value something if it doesn’t have a price? You only know what truly is valuable to yourself.

I start by inviting some close friends over to hangout and have a fun night. This night I choose Sarah. I use my cell phone and call her. I hear the definite Sarah voice and ask her what she’s up to. She explains how she’s not busy and would love to come over and hang out. About an hour later her gold Doge car shows up in my driveway. Sarah walks up and I meet her at my front door. Her perfect smile hits me first as we say our hellos and I welcome her in. I tell her what my plan is for the night and we venture off to find my neighbors.

Once we arrive at Austin’s house we group up with his friends and walk back down to my closer neighbor’s house. His name is Mike and he lives one house away from me. As the night gets darker and the wind starts blowing it starts to get chilly so we begin to make teams for manhunt. This game is played frequently in my neighborhood during the cool summer nights. Most of the time we play at Mike’s which happens to be the case tonight.

After a long game of running through the woods, tripping off things you can’t see in the dark, and sneakily getting to the base, we start to walk home. Sarah and I go back to my house with Austin and his friend and lay down in the driveway. The guys join us as we lay closely admiring the clear sky. We all yell out when we see a shooting star. [Most of the time joking] Although when you really see one zoom by we all make a whish. We all talk about random stuff and how much we enjoy the summer nights together. Once we’ve had enough and start to get cold we say goodbye and go through the dark summer night up the driveway to my house. These nights outside in the summer night with my friends is all about fun and freedom.

I grasp my matching mouth guard and goggles as I admire my lacrosse stick. I put on my goggle and put my mouth guard in place. I finally grab my stick with pride. I know that I look flashy when I walk on the field, everything matching to the school colors. I make my appearance with my first step on the field.

I love when it’s the time to go out shopping for new lacrosse gear. I can’t go in with a cost limit cause then you don’t get what you want. You have to go in open minded. I try and go in thinking about the quality that I want. That is how I got the lacrosse stick I own today.

For seven years now I have been playing this sport. I started in third grade learning the basics. I have upgraded my stick only two times. I own three sticks total. My old stick being used for three good years seemed to be getting pretty old and used. My shaft’s color almost rubbed off and the head looking pretty dirty. Oh and may I mention the fact that I could bend the head in half? [Which you shouldn’t be able to do] That is when my parents finally believed me and allowed me to get my new stick.

This stick was purchased at a lacrosse store in East Longmeadow. I picked it out piece by piece and had it custom strung. This took about an hour for me to make up my decision. I was constantly thinking will I enjoy this while I am playing and is this something that is worth the value? I definitely though it would be! So I finally made my decision and was just waiting on the owner to finish stringing the head before I could officially have my new lacrosse stick. My lacrosse stick allows me to have fun and keep myself busy.

These items are similar and different in some ways. They both keep me busy and let me have fun. I enjoy both and they both make me happy. They are done outside and with my friends. Lacrosse is during the hot days outside and manhunt/looking at the stars in during the dark breezy nights.They are full of running around and using energy.Lacrosse is more serious then manhunt/looking at the stars and it has stricter rules. There's a team that wins in lacrosse just like manhunt but you only play one game at a time.

I hope you understand the fact that you and I can value things even if they don’t have a price. America is too dependent on the priced items in the world and don't realize all the priceless items. Many go in debt because they spend too much money instead of using what they can to have a good time or just to have fun. I value my items in very different but similar ways and love them all.