THDMITW

The story begins with the discovery of a corpse on a beach near a village. Children play with the corpse until adults of the village discover its existence and decide to give the body a proper burial. As the villagers clean the body in preparation the towns people discover the hidden beauty the body possesses that was hiding beneath all the seaweed. They quickly become entranced starting with the women of the village who wish the man had been a villager and admire his handsomeness and stature. They dress him up and attach relics to him as if he were actually a member of the the village at one time. This annoys the men but upon arriving to take the body they too fall under some sort of spell attached to this man's appearance. The whole village turns out for the man's funeral and send him off as if he was one of the most important people to have ever set foot in the town. Shortly after they realize the man may return and begin preparing by decorating their town with elaborate colors.
Why did the village act so strangely upon discovering the man's good looks?
Was this man the beauty the town was missing?
Was the town lacking something to believe in and did the man supply them with this?
Was this magic?
What was the man's name?

One Day in the Life of Jamal Caspian

Today was like any other. Jamal’s alarm went off at 7:00 signaling the beginning of a new day and he slowly rose out of bed. He walked into the shower still trying to shake off the sleepiness that had followed him to the bathroom. As he got dressed his mom called up the stairs, “Jamal, would you like pancakes or waffles for breakfast?”
Jamal replied, “Waffles please,” as he started down the stairs with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

After a hearty waffle breakfast Jamal joined his mother in the car and they headed off to school. When they arrived at school Jamal hurriedly got out, kissed his mom goodbye, and ran off to join his many friends in the quad. When his friend Luke Skyrunner saw Jamal entering the quad he ran over to join him.
“So did you record any new songs last night Jamal?” Luke quickly asked.
“No, I had too much homework so I didn’t get a chance.”
“Oh shucks, I was really looking forward to hearing another one of your recordings”
The bell rang; it was time for class.

Jamal went to his first period class. It was math and he had a test scheduled. Prepared for his test, Jamal went into class ready to do well. When taking the test Jamal quickly realized that he had constructed one of the problems on the test during one of the class activities. Relieved that he would at least do well on one of the problems, Jamal finished his test.

Jamal went to his next class. History was one of his favorite subjects because he learned something every day and it was simple. Today the subject was the French Revolution, a subject new to Jamal. He took copious notes and listened to the lecture. Before he knew it the bell rang again and class was over.

Jamal regrouped with Luke and the two joined the rest of their grade in the auditorium for the morning meeting. It was a boring morning meeting with no speeches or videos of any kind. One student made an announcement about a role-playing club that sounded interesting to Jamal. After about 40 minutes the meeting was done.

Jamal headed off to his final class of the morning. He arrived at Spanish class with his mind ready to think and process things in a different language. During class Jamal asked a large amount of questions and was commended by the teacher for his involvement, however Jamal did not notice several kids were annoyed by his constant participation.

The bell rang yet again and it was time for lunch. Jamal left the Spanish classroom and looked for Luke to walk down to the cafeteria with. On their way down to lunch Jamal saw her. Charlotte was walking with one of her friends going the opposite direction. Jamal shyly waved as he walked by. This time, unlike other feeble attempts in the past, Charlotte noticed his wave and smiled as she waved back. Jamal had been admiring Charlotte from a distance for quite some time and was happy to see her notice him for once.

Once they arrived at the cafeteria Jamal and Luke got their food, pasta and breadsticks, one of Jamal’s favorite. They ate and talked about school. Once they finished they made the long walk back to the Upper School.

Jamal was happy because he had a free after lunch. He went into the library and found a nice spot in front of a computer and he spent his entire free surfing the Internet.

After his free Jamal had English. He went to class and was happy when he was greeted with a reading quiz. Jamal had read the night before and knew he was going to do well. After passing his quiz Jamal sat through an interesting class discussion on the previous nights reading. The bell rang and it was time for last period.

Jamal had another free period last block because he was not a member of any clubs that held meetings 8th block. So instead Jamal went to the computer lab with Luke. Jamal got permission from the IT guy and he went on to YouTube to watch karaoke. He found one of his favorite ‘N Sync songs and began singing. He drew a small crowd and they watched on as he sang with more emotion. After he was done the bell rang, he got a few pats on the back, and school was over. A nice conclusion to what amounted to a pretty good day of school. (773)

Evwybody’s Pwoblem

Jim Hall’s poem, Maybe Dats Your Pwoblem Too, is a very humorous poem, but at the same time it holds a much deeper meaning than the initial wittiness suggests. His poem talks a lot about people coming to terms with their lives and their personality and attempting to move from simple and normal to special and extraordinary.
No person is capable of being anyone but themselves. The only person you spend your entire life with is yourself, so you better learn how to make yourself smile. Yes, you can try and change things about yourself such as habits or working on certain character traits, but in the end you will always be you and you will not waver too far from your true self. One can go off and dare to be different, but they know deep down that they are who they are and in the end that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter if you are simple or weird, as long as you yourself are satisfied with your style of living, then there is nothing to stress about. If you are unhappy with your current lifestyle the only person capable of changing it is you. You may want to
Jim Hall points out in his poem the many problems the average person has with accepting their boring and ordinary lives. In Jim Hall’s poem I would say that the Spiderman suit is a metaphor for a person and their personality. He says, “But den you just can't quit being sometin like SPIDERMAN. You SPIDERMAN for life.” He is basically saying that one can go off and do something special but they will never stop being themselves. Whether you do something unique for a living that you truly enjoy or whether you are stuck with a job that hasn’t changed one bit over the several decades that you have done it, you still will never be able to shed your Spiderman suit. You can’t get rid of yourself; you’re stuck with yourself forever. So even if you try changing yourself by getting an exciting new career or life path, you will still be you, your Spiderman suit is “fwame wesistent.” You can’t start life over anew -or burn your suit- no matter how bad your current situation is. One is stuck with their decisions and they alone are responsible for them. If they don’t like their current situation they cant just hit a giant reset button on life and burn their suit, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions and get through with their Spiderman suit still in tact.
I really liked Jim Hall’s poem because it really stimulated the reader to think about himself or herself. There may be things about yourself that you don’t like, like a physical quality or characteristic, but you can do nothing to change that. One must just move forward with life accepting the fact that they are never burning their suit and that they are staying in the same suit forever. You are never changing, you will always be you, so instead of trying to change suits you should learn to enjoy the suit that you were given. (529)

Antigone and Rosa Parks: Standing for Their Beliefs

Antigone showed that an individual has the power to stand up to unfair rule and make a difference. Upon reading Antigone I connected Antigone’s efforts to another individual, Rosa Parks. Both women held fast to their beliefs and stood in against what they believed to be a corrupt authority. Rosa Parks, much like Antigone, went up against the odds of coming out ahead in order to achieve what she believed to be right.
Although they faced much different adversaries and stood for different causes, both Rosa Parks and Antigone show that it is very possible for an individual to make a difference. Rosa Parks was a member of the civil rights movement and she stood up to a bus driver and in a sense the white community as she fought for her rights. Antigone stood up to Creon and the law of their land as she fought for what she believed. Rosa Parks was a member of a very brave group of people who all stood together and made a difference. Antigone had her sister as support but for the most part was alone with her actions. Antigone did not have a whole group of people behind her that shared her struggles and strived for the same goals the way that Parks did. Antigone’s sister did not even entirely agree with what she was doing. I found it interesting that both of these individuals were women. In a time that women were not thought of as equals Antigone stood up to a “superior” male in her efforts. Rosa Parks stood up to a white male bus driver in a time that both women and minorities were fighting for their rights. Both of these brave women stood up for what they believed in even if it went against the rules that society set for them. Antigone was not allowed to bury her brother, but she felt that it was her right as a sister to give him a proper burial and that nothing would stand in her way. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person knowing full well that she as a minority was supposed to give up her seat in such a situation. In the end, both women faced serious consequences for their rebellious actions. Antigone was punished with death by her placement in a cave-like tomb. Rosa Parks was put into jail for her actions that day. Although they came from different times and stood for different causes, both Antigone and Rosa Parks were women who, despite the rules of society, stood for their beliefs and did not back down in resisting those who opposed their efforts. (444)

My Life Changing Books

1.Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
I love the entire Harry Potter series and this one was the one that got me hooked.
2.Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling
This was the conclusion to my favorite series of books.
3.Go Dog Go by Dr.Suess
This was one of my favorite books as a kid and I can remember reading it alot.
4.Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
I really enjoyed this book and it introduced me to Michael Crichton who was my favorite author the summer after freshman year.
5.All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
This was one of my favorite school assignment reading books and I have always been a fan of military history.
6.Falling Up by Shell Silverstein
I really enjoyed all of these poems as a kid and I remember reading everyone of them in Lower School.
7. Holes by Louis Sachar
This was one of my first pleasure reading books that I really enjoyed.
8.To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This like AQWF was one of my favorite school reading books ever and I really liked the powerful messages it sent.
9.The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
This was my favorite book that I read in 5th grade

Summer Reading

For my summer reading book I selected Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America." I found this book to very intriguing as it tells the tale of an alternate history in an anti-Semitic America. The style of writing and character choice by Roth added a very unique perspective to the novel. Roth’s selection of a 7-year-old Jewish Philip Roth in an American nation that has just signed a pact with Nazi Germany adds quite the twist to the novel. His inclusion of himself as a character in the novel gave the altered illusion of American history a genuine feeling because its almost as if Roth is telling you the tale of his very own childhood. The opening line of the novel, “Fear presides over these memories, a perpetual fear,” calls the story “memories” as if this is indeed a factual novel. I was quite fascinated by how real and true Philip Roth tried to make this false history appear with his selection of a child narrator living in a Jewish home.
The alternate history of America was a very interesting part of the novel and it made it more interesting for me. I enjoy when films or novels change history because it adds mystery and suspense to a story the reader already knows. It’s like watching a movie you’ve seen before but this time around it has a much different ending. When history is changed it creates a relearning process for the reader and it is as if they must learn what the novel’s history is, recognize how it differs from actual history, and adjust to it accordingly. In “The Plot Against America” President Roosevelt is beat in a very significant election by Republican candidate and American hero Charles Lindbergh. Under Lindbergh, America immediately halts any actions towards going to war in Europe and fighting the “Jewish War” and instead turns to leading the nation in an effort to “Americanize” the country’s Jewish population. Jews are moved under the act of “Homestead 42” and America becomes a virtual copy of Nazi Germany with its persecution of the Jews. Roth’s altered history quickly makes this novel a frightening idea for the reader to process and forces them to think of a negative history that potentially could have happened. In the novel, Lindbergh’s pact, or “Iceland Understanding,” with Hitler changes the fate of America and many in the country now fear a similar fate of those in Germany. Roth makes this novel seem more realistic by altering details from actual history. For example, when young Philip sneaks into a newsreel theater instead of seeing updates of Americans fighting in World War II-as one would expect a newsreel theater during this era to be showing-he sees film of President Lindbergh hosting the German foreign minister in the white house. These events in the novel are where the reader’s knowledge of history conflict with the history occurring in the novel. I like reading about these changes in history and observing how it differs from actual history. I believe that Philip Roth’s alternate history of Jewish life in America during the World War II era makes this story very unique and gives the reader a much different way of viewing history with a “what if?” attitude. (541)