To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Every single day you are faced with a decision. You may not even know you do. Decisions can be as simple as figuring out what you want to wear today or it could be as hard as figuring out what you want to do in life. There will be times in life where you will regret your decisions. You may have not thought through it enough and just acted quickly which caused regret. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there is times in the book that the decisions they make they will regret.

One choice that Tom Robinson made in the story was when he had to decide if he wanted to help Mayella Ewell when Tom is being questioned. He was asked why he went over to Mayella Ewell’s house and Tom says that he went over to help her fix things when she asked him. On page 263 he says “I was just trying to help her sir”. This Shows that Tom was really just trying to help Mayella whenever she needed help around the house to fix something.

The Second Choice that Tom Robinson made in the story was when Tom decided to help Mayella Ewell & got accused of forcing him on her. Tom Ran away from the scene fast because he knew that he would get accused of harming Mayella even if he didn’t do anything. By leaving so fast it looked like Tom had done something and he was scared he would get in trouble for it. On page 263 it says “Robinson, you’re pretty good at busting up chifforobes and kindling with one hand aren't you?” This quote from the book shows that Mayella's attorney was willing to say anything to show that Robinson was guilty and they would believe what Mr.Gilmer said just because he was black.

The Third choice that Tom Robinson made was when the Jury and Judge were trying to figure out if Tom Robinson was guilty with putting himself on Mayella. They decided that Tom Robinson was guilty of putting himself upon her because he had nothing to back him up even though he didn’t do it. Everything he did made it look like he could have put himself on Mayella so they had to go with what they heard. On page 282 it says “ Guilty.. guilty … guilty... guilty …. I peeked out at Jem his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them.”

In the End Tom made a lot of decisions that he regretted because now he was in Jail even though he didn’t actually put himself on Mayella. No matter what Atticus did to try and help Tom it didn’t work because Mayella’s Attorney said all the right things and Tom did make it look like he could have done something to Mayella. Maybe if Robinson wasn’t black he could have had a chance of not being guilty but so many people are racist so they think that whoever is a different color skin is guilty of doing something. In this case Tom is innocent but they didn’t believe him just because of his skin color. This book definitely shows a lot of Decisions people made that they know have to live with. We need to think before we do something because we could regret it in the end.

   

The Old Man and The Sea Book Review

Title: The Old Man and the Sea

Publisher: Kevin Moehlenkamp

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Fight for What you Love

This story is about an Old man named Santiago & a young boy. Santiago goes fishing and catches a big fish. had been trying to catch a big fish for a long time. He had caught one but he had to fight off all the sharks and other creatures that were trying to get at it. Santigo was not very lucky with caughting a big fish.By the time he got it to shore it was just bones. The Man was getting very old and weaker by the day so it was even harder to try and fight of creatures. When he was younger he was able to do anything and had amazing strength .

On the eighty fifth day, Santiago sets out by himself onto the Gulf Stream. He Casted his line around noon and hoping a marlin would take his bait. He was confident that he would get a bite. Santiago had got a bite and he was sure it was a marlin, he could feel it! It was a big one too. Santiago is so weak that he was struggling to pull in the Marlin. Two days had gone by and the old man is still struggling the tension of the line with his body. He’s is in pain and wounded. He is so tired but still finds somehow to fight on and catch a marlin in the end.

A Quote on amazon i found was “Life is hard, but worth fighting for” I agree with this quote 100%. Life can be hard and throw rocks at you but in the end it will workout and it will be worth all the hard times. Just like in the story The Old Man and the Sea. Santiago had to fight to get a marlin even though he was not having any luck, but he didn’t give up and kept fighting and he ended up catching a marlin.

The writing style in this story is very descriptive! You can picture in your head what they are saying in the story. It almost feels like you're there in the story. Page 144 “He let the line slip through his fingers while he reached down with his left hand and made fast the free end of the two reserve coils to the loop of the two reverse coils of the next line. Now he was ready” This quote shows how descriptive the story really is and you can picture him doing all this while he’s getting ready to go out fishing. It made me think of going fishing with my parents and when my cousin accidently got a hook in her arm when she was trying to cast her line. It made me feel like i was fishing and it was like a total flashback for me.

The Old Man & the Sea reminded me off the book i read called Speak. Even Speak was not a book about fishing the characters went through having to keep going on with life and trying to reach your goal even though it was hard but it was worth it in the end. Both of the main characters in The Old Man & the Sea and Speak never gave up and it turned out to be good even if it was rough getting to the good spot. The plot was very different because The Old Man & the Sea is about fishing and Speak is learning how to Speak up even if it hurts.

The quote on page 38 “A man can be destroyed but not defeated” I think this quote means that they can be destroyed in the beginning but they fight till the end and they end up defeating their problems. It destroys them at first but they catch on and defeat them. Never giving up will work. If you keep working as hard as you can, it will pay off. Maybe not at the beginning but in the end it will. You have to work at it & you will achieve !

I could relate to this story in many ways. One of them was i have had knee injuries in the past that has stopped me from doing the things i love for a while. It was pretty devastating and i knew it was going to be very hard to fix this problem. After going to the doctors they had assigned me to physical therapy for my injury and a new knee brace and i am still working on my knee for it to get better. It’s hard but i have saw improvement and i will get back to normal somehow, but i won't give up.

The book has showed me even more that even though it’s frustrating and hard at the beginning , does not mean that it won't get better. I enjoyed in this story that he did not give up and he kept fighting. It’s really inspirational a bet for a lot of people. I didn’t really like that it was about fishing but i can't change that, but if i had to change something it would be changing fishing to something more interesting that will catch teenagers eyes even more than fishing does.

I give the Old Man & The sea 3 Paws- Pursue it.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything happens for a Reason

By: Haley Asselin


Authors notes:

1. I would like to get the reader to get out of my story, that making bad decisions can lead to life threatening issues. I also want them to realize if something bad like that happens you can overcome it and maybe even help people.
2. I think this short story was easy to write because it could be very realistic.
3. My weak area was probably putting a lot of detail & my conclusion.
4. Do i have enough details? Do i need more? What was good and not so good about my story? What should i work on?

Bryan was an average senior in high school, he played hockey and baseball and just was a great kid overall. He had a sister named Brittany and parents that supported him no matter what he did. Bryan was always smiling and having fun with his friends and he even said it himself “I have a great life thanks to all the people in it”

It was about 8 o’clock and Bryan was planning to go out to this party at his friend Dans house. He heard there was going to be a lot of people there and Dan’s parents weren't going to be there all weekend so it seemed like a great idea to throw a party. Bryan had liked this girl named Taylor and she was going to be there and he really wanted to see if he had a chance with this girl, and this was a perfect time to finally talk to her.

Bryan got to the party at 10 and there was so many people at Dan’s house it was crazy. This was going to be a party that no one could forget. Right when Bryan got there he got asked if he wanted a drink, and he thought why not.. i’ll have one that won’t hurt. Bryan usually doesn’t drink, but it wasn’t a sport season so there was nothing in his mind that worried him like being kicked off the team. What Bryan didn’t know is that many things can happen when you drink and its not safe when you are a underaged drinker.

Bryan was having a great time, he got to talk to his love taylor and he was just having so much fun! Bryan wasn’t really paying attention to what his was drinking or how much he was drinking. All of his attention was on Taylor. Bryan and Taylor were talking about going back to Taylor's house to hang out because there was so many people it was hard to just have a conversation by themselves.

Taylor asked Bryan if she could drive his car for him because she didn’t drink and Bryan was obviously drunk. Bryan would not let Taylor drive. Taylor told him she wasn't going with him if he was driving. Bryan didn’t even respond he got into his car and started his car. "I see blood driping down on my lap. where am i? Am i alive? I see a bright light. Am i dead?"

Bryan had got hit by a truck because he was going the wrong way on the road. Taylor called 911 in complete shock, she thought it was all of her fault because she didn’t stop him. She tried but he just drove off. By the time it finally hit Taylor that he got hit by a car the ambulance was there and Bryan was not moving. Everyone that was at the party had gone home because they didn’t want to get caught for drinking.

By this time Bryan’s parents were there and crying and so was Taylor. Bryan was not responding to the paramedics and seemed to be unconscious. The paramedics got Bryan into the ambulance and were driving to the hospital while checking Bryan for any cuts or injuries. He seemed to be good except the big bruise on his neck.

The paramedics were not sure the damage the car accident had did on him, but they would know when they got to the hospital and did some tests. Bryan’s parents were still in shock and so was Taylor, but they were not going to leave him no matter what.

After the doctors had did some tests, the results were not good. Bryan was inacoma and the doctors were pretty sure that Bryan was not going to survive, he was not responding to the treatments the doctors had giving him. His parents were never going to give up on Bryan he is a fighter and he could make it through this!

After waiting a week of his parents waiting right by his side, Bryan woke up! Bryan tried to move his arm but he couldn't. Bryan was paralyzed and he couldn’t do anything about it.He was alive but he couldn’t even hold his mothers hand, she had to hold it for him. He began to cry but he knew he had to be strong. He could be dead right now but hes not so he has to make the best of it. He made the choice of driving drunk and now he has to deal with the consequences.

Bryan had pretty much done nothing for the next few weeks but watch movies and getting fed by his parents because he was incapable of doing anything for himself. Bryan felt very hopeless and useless because he had to rely on everyone but himself to do things.

Bryan had come up with this idea, he wanted to help teenagers with talking to them about what can happen when you get drunk underaged and how it’s not worth risking everything. He got a call from some high schools that wanted him to come in a talk about his story, he was excited but also really nervous.

After bryan was done speaking the crowd was so supportive of him and pretty much the whole crowd was crying. Bryan had told everyone how he lost everything, and he means everything, he lost all of things that he loved to do, he couldn’t do anymore and he has to rely on other people to do it for him.

Over the years Bryan was going to so many schools talking to teenagers about his story, every single person was so touched by him. He also kept getting emails from kids that he talked to, and they were all saying how he changed so many lives and now people would really think before they do something like that. Bryan never thought getting paralyzed could help change lives, but it really did.

Bryan continued to change lives with his parents and his new wife Taylor by his side. They never gave up on him and now hes changing lives. His parents and wife couldn’t be more proud.

Rebounding My Iphone5

Rebounding My Iphone5

Not many People know What’s important in life. People wonder if it’s the high priced items found everywhere, or a high tech system of electronics. Maybe it’s those everyday moments that no one really realizes that those are important in life. You could have a great time without spending any money and making some unforgettable memories that no high priced item could even come close to those moments that you could never forget.

My priceless item is basketball. I remember the first time i picked up a basketball, it was a instant love. I was 5 years old and my mom signed me up for St.Pats CYO basketball , i was really excited to play just like every other 5 year old was. Every since i picked up a basketball, my mom had never saw me smile as much as I did when I was playing basketball. Everyone knew that this would be something special.

It was January and it was the day, the day of my first real basketball game where they actually kept score and had real refs that weren't just coaches. I was so nervous i was ready to pee my pants, but i knew that I've been waiting for this day to come and i was truly really excited to play.

It was time to play. My coach told me to do the jump ball, I was so scared that i would mess up but i knew i had to do it. I went up to the half court mark and stood at the girl that was jumping for the ball too. My nerves were even worse, this girl was 2 feet taller than me, i swear she was in high school she was unhumanly tall. Now i had to guard this girl. This is crazy!

The ref made sure no-one had any jewelry on then he blew his whistle and threw the ball up right in the middle of this 7 Feet girl and i, i jumped as high as I could to try and tap it to my teammate. I did it! I really did it, i got it to my teammate! I beat this girl! Everyone was cheering so loud! Lexi then dribbled it down the court and made a layup. The crowd then went wild again. This was the best day ever! We were already winning!

My coach had me play Center and of course i was guarding the tall girl, the ball got passed to her and I had my hands straight up so I could try and block her shot, as she went up to shoot I put my hand right in front of the ball, and as she shot I hit it right out of her hands. The crowd went crazy. They couldn't believe I just blocked a girl twice my sizes shot, I couldn't really believe it either!

My Priced Item is my Iphone 5. About a month ago I was playing volleyball outside with my friends, and I had my phone in my pocket while I was playing. I went to go and set the ball and my phone fell out of my pocket I was worried it wasn't going to work anymore and I was right! It wouldn't even turn on! My parents had been telling me that I could get a new phone because my phone just wasn't working right and it was so slow and annoyed me so much.

I told my mom that i broke my phone, and I needed a new one! She said awhile ago that I was going to get one for Christmas, but Christmas was a month away and I didn't want to wait that long and I wouldn't have a phone for a month and that would be torture for me. My mom agreed to get me a new phone that day, but that would be part of my Christmas present. I was totally fine with it.

I was so excited to finally get the iphone 5! Everyone was talking about how amazing it was and it was crazy how much stuff you could do with it. After i got it i don’t think I took my eyes off of it for the rest of the night. I fell in love with this phone. It was so amazing!

Playing Basketball and my iphone 5 are both valuable to me. They are similar because the both affect my mood and how it will be for the rest of the day. When I play basketball nothing matters but basketball, I forget about everything and focus on basketball. My phone helps me to get away from things and listen to music or play a game. Basketball & My Iphone can make me a  happier person and be able to get away from the world and do what makes me happy.

Although they are similar they are also different. Basketball is something i can physically do with my whole body and it relieves stress. For me running helps me relieve stress and not have a care in the world. My iphone is something i do with just my fingers and is usually a way I can talk to friends or just listen to music to relax me.

As you can see i value these things very much. Sometimes it’s not all about the priced things , it could be just the daily activities that could to just as much as something that costs money. In my opinion i could pick playing basketball instead of my iphone, Basketball has made me the person i am today and my iphone could never do that.

Basketball & Iphone Value

Value Essay By : Haley Asselin---
   Not many People know What’s important in life. People wonder if it’s the high priced items found everywhere, or a high tech system of electronics. Maybe it’s those everyday moments that no one really realizes that those are important in life. You could have a great time without spending any money and making some unforgettable memories that no high priced item could even come close to those moments that you could never forget. My priceless item is basketball.I remember the first time i picked up a basketball, it was a instant love. I was 5 years old and my mom signed me up for St.Pats CYO basketball , i was really excited to play just like every other 5 year old was. Every since i picked up a basketball, my mom had never saw me smile as much as i did when i was playing basketball. Everyone knew that this would be something special. It was January and it was the day, the day of my first real basketball game were they actually kept score and had real refs that weren't just coaches. I was so nervous i was ready to pee my pants, but i knew that i’ve been waiting for this day to come and i was truly really excited to play. It was time to play. My coach told me to do the jump ball, I was so scared that i would mess up but i knew i had to do it. I went up to the half court mark and stood at the girl that was jumping for the ball too. My nerves were even worse, this girl was 2 feet taller than me, i swear she was in high school she was unhumanly tall. Now i had to guard this girl. This is crazy! The ref made sure no-one had any jewelry on then he blew his whistle and threw the ball up right in the middle of this 7 Feet girl and i, i jumped as high as i could to try and tap it to my teammate. I did it! I really did it, i got it to my teammate! I beat this girl! Everyone was cheering so loud! Lexi then dribbled it down the court and made a layup. The crowd then went wild again. This was the best day ever! We were already winning! My coach had me play Center and of course i was guarding the tall girl, the ball got passed to her and i had my hands straight up so i could try and block her shot, as she went up to shoot i put my hand right in front of the ball, and as she shot i hit it right out of her hands. The crowd went crazy. They couldn't believe i just blocked a girl twice my sizes shot, i couldn't really believe it either! My Priced Item is my Iphone 5. About a month ago I was playing volleyball outside with my friends, and i had my phone in my pocket while i was playing. I went to go and set the ball and my phone fell out of my pocket i was worried it wasn’t going to work anymore and i was right! It wouldn't even turn on! My parents had been telling me that i could get a new phone because my phone just wasn’t working right and it was so slow and annoyed me so much. I told my mom that i broke my phone, and i needed a new one! She said awhile ago that i was going to get one for Christmas, but Christmas was a month away and i didn't want to wait that long and i wouldn't have a phone for a month and that would be torture for me. My mom agreed to get me a new phone that day, but that would be part of my Christmas present. I was totally fine with it. I was so excited to finally get the iPhone 5! Everyone was talking about how amazing it was and it was crazy how much stuff you could do with it. After i got it i don’t think i took my eyes off of it for the rest of the night. I fell in love with this phone. It was so amazing! Playing Basketball and my iPhone 5 are both valuable to me. They are similar because the both affect my mood and how it will be for the rest of the day. When i play basketball nothing matters but basketball, i forget about everything and focus on basketball. My phone helps me to get away from things and listen to music or play a game. Basketball & My Iphone can make me a happier person and be able to get away from the world and do what makes me happy. Although they are similar they are also different. Basketball is something i can physically do with my whole body and it relieves stress. For me running helps me relieve stress and not have a care in the world. My iPhone is something i do with just my fingers and is usually a way i can talk to friends or just listen to music to relax me. As you can see i value these things very much. Sometimes it’s not all about the priced things , it could be just the daily activities that could to just as much as something that costs money. In my opinion i could pick playing basketball instead of my iphone, Basketball has made me the person i am today and my iphone could never do that.

Gawk ; Vocab VIdeo

A promise is a promise.

Summer Reading Assignment

Just listen : Annabel Greene
The 7 Habits of highly effective teens : Chris

Annabel is a freshman this year at Orlando Academy in florida. She was known as the geek in school and didn’t have many friends, Until one day changed her whole life. Annabel had an ongoing schedule that never changed. She would go to bed at 9 o'clock on a school night and then set her alarm for 6am every morning. She would do everything she had to do in the morning then she would get on the bus at 7:15am. If even one thing changed in her day she would have her whole day messed up, well as she thinks.

Annabels mom just got over being diagnosed with breast cancer. It was really hard for Annabel to get through thinking that her mom could die from this. Luckily her mother survived this awful thing and is now healthy as can be.

Annabel was in her math class when she got called to go down to the office because they needed help with a new student. Even though Annabel was still a freshman she knew the school better than anyone. She had a awesome memory! When Annabel finally got down to the office she saw a boy sitting in the lobby of the office. She smiled at him and told him to follow her.

“what’s your name?” Annabel said .

“Chris” he said very quietly.

“Where are you from?”

“Orlando. I Used to be homeschooled” he replied.

“That’s so cool” she said.

“I guess” he replied.

“You seem really nervous” Annabel said.

“I am!” He replied.

“Don’t be! You will make lots of new friends, & just know you already have a friend and you can come to me whenever you have a question.”

“Thanks” he said with a big smile on her face.

Annabel could not stop thinking about Chris the whole day. In class Annabel would draw them together holding hands. Pretty much everything she thought about was about him.

Later that day she got a text from a number she had never saw before. She opened the text up and it said “hey! It’s Chris” Her heart dropped it was like a dream came true for Annabel . Her love just texted her. How did he get my number? Does he like me? Did i say anything wrong? Did he have a question? So many questions rolled through her head.

You gotta play “cool” she said to herself.

After about an hour or so of talking to each other, he asked her out. He really did like her as much as she liked him.  Her dream had finally came true. Nothing that could ever happen could change how happy she would be for a long time. She was in for a big surprise that was just about to happen.

It was August 5th , a hot summer day and no school. Annabel had a doctors appointment for getting really sick all the time. Especially in the summer. It wasn’t even cold. Her and chris were still dating and it had almost been a year since he asked her out. She even said it herself, she would do anything for him and he would do anything for her. They loved each other so much.

Later that night Chris called her to say goodnight when she just started to cry on the phone.

“Why are you crying hun?” Chris said.

“You love me...right?” she said

“Of course! Now why are you crying?”

“I have to go .goodnight” she said.

“Goodnight! See you tomorrow”

That next day Chris went up to his friend Reed. “Have you seen my girlfriend” he asked. “I heard she had a doctors appointment so she won’t be in today.” “Okay thank you!” Chris said.

Later that night he called to ask why she wasn’t in school. She started to cry again.
“Please tell me what’s wrong annabel.”
“You really want to know?” she said.
“Yes”
she said really quietly... “I have cancer”
right away chris started to cry. He knew she was really sick. She had always been but they never knew why she was sick.
“I am so sorry” he said..
“I’m at the hospital if you want to come see me” she told him.

He rushed to the hospital as fast as he could. He asked the lady at the front desk what room Annabel Greene was in. The Lady pointed to the room across the hall. He could hear crying from the room. It sounded like her mother crying. He rushed into the room.
“What’s going on” he screamed.
“Annabel died” her mother said in tears.

Chris didn’t know what to do. The love of his life just died. He loved her more than life itself. He always promised her he would NEVER ever leave her so he did what he promised. He went into the hospital bathroom and hung himself. He never wanted to leave her and now he wouldn’t have too.