Poem

Fishing

When my Grandpa was alive he loved to fish

When he did he went home and ate if from a dish

He loved the smell of the salty sea

And when he was out there we let him be

We watched him from the little ledge

With our feet dangling over the waters edge

For hours on end we would watch and wait

Hoping for something to take the bait

Old Man and the Sea

Today or almost every day people face difficult problems and challenges that they have to deal with. It may be a something relating to there job; getting laid off, failing a test, or struggles with your family and friends. Everyday we face theses obstacles and we are able to make it through the day. In the novella The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago faces many obstacles when he it out on the water trying to catch the marlin of his dreams.

The first obstacle the old man faces when he is out at sea would be his left hand cramping, due to him holding the line on his back. Santiago always thought that his left hand wasn’t good enough, and most of the time didn’t trust it, bringing him bad luck. Even though Santiago’s hand cramping might not be as of a big deal to us, it was huge for him. If he couldn’t keep fishing due to the hand cramping, he could lose the marlin that he has always dreamed of catching some day. He even tried talking to the fish, telling him to get better “What kind of hand is that,” he said. “Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good” (58). But it didn’t seem to work.

Santiago yet faces another problem when he is out at sea. It would be fighting the sharks that are about to eat the marlin. Santiago was very cautious during this time but it was also very devastating to him because he felt very companionate toward the marlin, and without it he feels detached. In the real world people are anxious with what then accomplish, and sometimes people’s dreams are crushed. If they make a project and it gets ruined, or if they build there dream house and it gets burnt down. Some people may chose to be irate, mourn and sulk over it for days, and some just move on, trying to pursue that dream again, and that is what Santiago does. His determination to keep the fish was strong “When he saw him coming he knew that this was a shark that had no fear at all and would do exactly what he wished” (101). But in the end it didn’t work.

Santiago’s last and final obstacle would be the marlin carrying the old man out to sea. During this time Santiago was very patient even though it took so long to catch the marlin. Some people go after there dreams, chasing them even if it took them days, months, or years. People always want to get into the best college, working there hardest in school, or wanting to get the best job or house. For Santiago it was chasing and trying to catch that marlin he has always wanted, even perhaps if it did take him three days and he was lonely and stranded out there. While the marlin pulled him out to sea, he often talked to the marlin letting him know that he would stay with him forever, and not let go. “Fish, he said softly aloud, I’ll stay with you until I am dead” (52).

Santiago’s problems in the story were much different from what the average person faces, but his reactions can be seen in every day challenges. His three problems of the cramping in the hand, being dragged to sea, and having the marlin eaten by the sharks were all symbolic of Santiago’s perseverance and to follow his dreams. In our daily lives we face problems that are much simpler and have to face the same reactions and outcomes that may happen due to them. You have to be confident and devoted to get through them. Ernest Hemingway does a tremendous job with showing Santiago’s determination and strong will to succeed through his actions, and it was a good way to take every day challenges and turn them into a more specific story.

The Zoo

For some people this day was rather good, but for others it only ended well. Three people met one another, and helped each other with there problems and obstacles they were facing in there life at the time. It all started on that one Saturday morning in New York City. The central park zoo was just opening up, and the famous Scarlet Ibis was well rested, getting the right amount of food so he would be ready for the rest of the day.

A few blocks away in the neighborhood of 23rd street things didn’t start off as good as the Scarlet Ibis’s. I was sound asleep, when all of a sudden my brother Joe came in and started yelling at me to get up. He pulled all my blankets off the bed, leaving me just lying there.
“Come on you little twerp you have to get up, and make me breakfast.”
Joe wasn’t…hmm let’s say the nicest brother to me. He looked at me as the youngest of my five siblings, and therefore I had to do everything for him as he told me too. I was to lethargic to get up but after he made it clear he would hurt me if i didn't I finally got up to cater to my sibling, once that was done I bathed myself in a cold shower, and got dressed.
“What are you doing today, said Joe”
“I am not sure yet, probably going to go outside to see what Aggie is doing.” and with that I walked outside to see the only person that understood him. Aggie.

As I walked up closer I could already see the tears streaming down Aggie’s face. The fact that she was hyperventilating made me walk faster, getting to her sooner.
“What happened now.” I said
“They did it again” said Aggie. “My father beat me and my mother ran away. My mother went crazy again, she’s on those new pills again, there getting to her. She said she was leaving for good and not to expect her back. My father said it was my entire fault and that when he started to beat me, I tried running but he caught up” This situation is irrevocable.
“That’s it,” I said. “I’m taking you out for the day, well go to the central park zoo, you know… Clear our minds.”
“Sounds like a plan.” sighed Aggie.

It was about five blocks from our little neighborhood on 23rd street to reach the zoo. When they got there, they waited in the bevy to pay the admission of three dollars.
“What do you want to do first?” I said.
I could tell by her countenance facial expression she did not care, but then suggested walking over here to the edifices containing the birds.
As we walked over there, from the corner of my eyes I saw Aggie stop dead in her tracks.
“NO!” from a distance appeared her gaunt mom, walking aimlessly down the pathway. From the semblance of her, it was sure she already had a few in her. We better run, I can’t let her see me. As we ran, we decided to run to the exhibit that had a pink bird. In the mists of Aggie crying I saw the little pallet that read “Alex, the notorious scarlet ibis”. Alex started to walk away from the mangrove he was laying under, and walked toward us.
“What is the matter?” he replied.
“You can talk!” I said.
“ Yes, now come around to the back here and tell me what you crying and running for.”
When we got inside Alex’s little home, where he spent his nights, we sat against the bulwark and told him our story. Aggie went first; she told him everything from her mom being an alcoholic and getting drunk every day. She told him about her father getting mad over her mother leaving and saying it was all Aggie’s fault. Beating her till she couldn’t be beaten anymore. Then I went…I told him about my brother and how I am the smallest and everyone seems to pick on me, make me do everything for them.
“That is terrible” replied Alex. “Let me share with you my story… when I was younger my mother thought the same way your brothers did to you doodle. She thought that I couldn’t keep up with the family when they flew south for the winter, so she left me, high and dry. I didn’t know what to do with my life I always knew I wanted to show case, and then one day a little boy brought me here, it changed my life. Now I get to be what I wanted, I chased my dreams. You guys just need to remember, never give up even if you get broken down so much, chase your dreams and what you love doing, and most of all make sure you have friends that are always there for you, whenever you need it.”
“Wow thank you so much” Aggie and I replied.
“Oh and one more thing… whenever you need someone to talk to, just stop by the zoo and come see me, ill always be here for you guys…remember that.”

That day as we walked home from the zoo we had lots of stuff going through our head, and the fact that I learned a lot today from the benevolent Scarlet Ibis . We learned to never give up in life and chase your dreams even if someone is sorry and suppliant, he also told us to be stalwart; we made a new friend, and have each others backs. So that day when we got home we went into our houses strong, not letting anyone tell us what to do, brake us down, or beat us… ever again.

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Washington Square Press, 2004.
Genre : Fiction

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, it one of her well known books, and by far my favorite. The story is based on a typical family. It took place in there town. At their house, the hospital, courtroom, or the firestation where her father worked. There's a mother Sara, father Brian, son Jesse, and two daughters Anna and Kate. There mother used to be a lawyer untill there daughter got dianosed with leukemia. Kate was diagnosed with leukemia when she was little, she had to undergo countless surgeries, and transfusions. Before Kate was born, nobody had the right stem cells to be a donor for her, so they had Anna, who matched the blood cells perfectly. Ever sence Anna was two months old, she had been donating countless things to Kate to make her servive. Whenever Kate ended up in the hospital so was Anna. Anna never got to live the life that any other child had. She couldn't go away to hockey camps (which was her favorite sport) she had to be there at any time incase Kate did go into the hospital. When she finally reached the age of 13,she decided to get a lawyer, and file a lawsuit against her parents, so that she would no longer have to donate organs, or blood to Kate. There were many complications during the file, that led to her moving out with her father for a little while, and staying at the fire station where he worked. Then ended up working out the case by letting Anna decided wheather on not she wanted to donate whatever was needed for Kate. They thought there life was going to be fine after that but one day Anna was in a serious car accident, after going to the court to sign papers on the case with her lawyer. They got hit by a truck and had to use the jaws of life, when Anna's father arived at the scene, due to being a EMT and firefighter, he noticed Anna in the backseat and her lawyer in the front semi breathing. Then got Anna out and rushed her to the hopital, they told the family that she suffered serious brain damage and wasnt going to live. Everyone was devistated, while Kate was worse. She took all the blame out on her, if it wasnt for her having to have Anna donate all the things to her, if she didnt have Leukimia Anna would never filed that lawsuit and have been killed. The book ended with them showing how they dealt with Anna's lose, and all the ways they remembered her.
" Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the deicacy and complexity of human relationships " said The Boston Globe.
In My Sister's Keeper she writes with a lot of description. Its like your almost there with them when there at the hospital. You know everything there doing, whoose there, what Kate is doing, how she is feeling, and what she is hooked up to. Her writing is very vivid and in depth.
This reminds me of the book i read called The Perfect Storm. That same writer wrote as if you were there with them at sea, when the storm was at its roughest, and people where getting serverally injured.
"No matter how many times you drive to the emergency room, it never becomes a routine. Brian carries our daughter in his arms, blood running down her face. The triage nurse waves us inside, shepherds the other kids to the bank of plastic chairs where they can wait. A resident comes into the cubicle, all business. "What happened?" - Sara, page 223.
Reading the book made me think of all the stress that family goes through. I feel how there parents do, probally not able to go to sleep at night without knowing if there daughter will be with them the next day. How Anna feels every time she if forced into giving something to Kate, always having to stick around for her. How Kate must feel going into all those surgieries hopeing she makes it out okay, and lastly for Jesse. The one thats left out, who doesnt get a lot of attention. I can picture and almost sence how all of them must feel.

ringing of the beach

What is value? What is valuable to you? Many people have different assumptions to what value is. Some people value those moments when you’re a baby and say your first word, or loose your first tooth, your first day of kindergarten, or high school. There are many valuable things in the world. For me, the two things I value most are my cell phone and the beach.

On weekends it’s my life, while on week days it’s just a way of contacting someone. As I finish getting ready I hear the loud vibration that my cell phone is giving. Rihanna’s new single of “live your life” is going off. I quickly run over, see who it is that’s calling me, then flip it open and say “hello.” Wherever I go my cell phone is always at my side. Whether its to the mall, friends, or on long vacations…I always will have it.
My cell phone is decked out. Its nice than many others, equipped with a touch screen, full keypad to open up to, mobile television and web, navigator and blue tooth. It’s a slick black with silver edges: it’s the voyager. Due to not having my cell phone for more than three months I already love it. Compared to others that don’t have half the stuff mine offers it’s pretty good. I don’t know what I would without my cell phone. It allows me to contact people when I am in a rush, or just plain texting people when I am bored.


The car ride is very long and dreadful. Sitting there crammed in a car that’s way over the capacity limit. I am stuck in the way back against the window. It’s not even comfortable to recline seeing there no room as for the beach chairs blankets and boogie boards take up half the car and the roof. One of my families favorite beach is Good Harbor Beach located in Gloucester Ma. My family has been going there ever since I was little, and we enjoy it so much. When we finally arrive there we all grab something to bring and go pick a spot on the beach. We unpack everything then everyone goes off on there own to enjoy the sun and waves.

I open my eyes to the bright sun shinning, and sand between my toes. I slowly get up to see all the kids making sand castles and enjoying the warm water. Seagulls snatching and cawing for food, sea weed and sea shells awaiting you when you enter the water, oh and don’t forget those sharks!

The beach is very valuable to me. I love everything about it. Being able to lie out and soak up the sun, enjoy the refreshing water when it gets too hot, and make works of art in the sand. I love the ice cold Italian ice you can purchase at the concession stand, or all the other scrumptious foods.


With that said, there are many ways to value things. It could be something you value a lot, or something that you value least but is still worth something to you. Also, there are many things to value in the world and many people have different things. As for me it’s my cell phone and the beach. Although the beach and cell phone are completely different things and there’s not really a good way to compare them both, I would have to say they both let me explore. The beach lets me by seeing all the new things in the ocean or in the sand, and my cell phone by searching the web or finding new interesting things it has. These are two things that I value and mean a lot in my life. Those are my cell phone and the beach!