Saturday, November 8, 2014

McCandless Project

McCandless Project
    Do you ever feel you do things differently than everyone else?  Or that you don't fit in with the socially accepted styles?  Well that is what Chris McCandless feels like throughout his life.  To feel a bit like he did I conducted an experiment that goes against me socially.  I decided to take a different route to all of my classes one day.  People reacted differently in different instances.  For the most part, people didn't notice.  Now and then there were different people i bumped into and got asked why I was going this way.  I repeatedly told them I just felt like it.  Another instance of people noticing is when i was a little late to math one day.  I had people ask me where I was and why I was so late.  I told them I just took a different route, which involved going around the library instead of through it.
    I felt rushed and weird during the experiment. I felt rushed because most of the ways I went I knew were going to take a longer time to get to my class. I also felt weird because I was seeing people I wasn't used to seeing at that time of the day. I also felt weird because I was going a different route and it wasn't necessarily familiar to me yet. I was not surprised at other peoples reaction at all. I expected to be late and questioned about being late. I expected to run into some different friends and talk to them. What I didn't expect was my feelings. I thought I would be fine with going a different route, but I guess I wasn't. I guess I was so used to going one way, that it was hard for me to change that. I did feel pressured to do what I normally do, or what route I usually did. I was very tempted to just go the same way as I usually do and just ditch the experiment. I never did, but several times I was very close to giving in. I think this is all pretty expected and not surprising. I think if I had a hypothesis I would expect to feel a little weird and to be questioned by people. I also think this experiment showed me not to be too attached to one prospect of life, to much, and to change things up now and then. This was a very interesting social experiment.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Chris McCandless Paragraph
"First you have to learn the rules of the game.  And then you have to play better than anyone else"
-Albert Einstein
        I chose this quote for a couple reasons.  First of all, this quote is true to me, in that I`m very competitive and play competitive sports.   Second of all I thought that this quote would be inspirational not just to me, but to other people.  This quote is saying as long as you know what you have to do, you should give the task at hand all your effort, and work as hard as you can.  This quotation is a great representation of my life and how I live everyday.   I play different sports nearly every day and there is always competition surrounding them.  In order to be on the best team, squad, or line, you have to work hard to get there.  I believe that if you work hard enough you can achieve most things in life.  My life would be very busy if a lived by this quote.  In my spare time I would always be practicing sports and not leave anytime for anything else.  I would certainly get better at sports and certain skills, but I would not have a lot of time on my hands.  This quote by Albert Einstein is a great representative of my life, and how I live.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Josh Breen                                                   Breen 1
Mrs.Belden
Honors English 1
6 October 2014                  
North Korea
Luke stepped out of his silver Jeep onto the hard concrete floor. He looked around and thought to himself that he was lucky to be a U.S. citizen.  He was standing in the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang.  He walked towards his apartment building, which was a shabby brick building with 3 floors. There were several homeless men surrounding it, for this building had a caring reputation.  There was trash everywhere, and in the shadows you could see creatures with bright red meaty eyes.  Luke shivered and walked faster towards the building.  He checked in and headed up to the third floor.  His room was the third on the left.  He slid in his keycard and the door swung open.  Luke locked the door behind him and plopped on the bed.  He rested on his lap his silver brief case.  He punched in a couple numbers on the side keypad, and the front sprung open.  On the inside of the front panel was a digital screen with a keyboard adjacent to it.  He turned the laptop on.  Luke got up and checked the window.  He knew that if he was to be caught he could be arrested, or more likely, killed.  Luke logged on with his U.S. credentials.  Once getting on his account, he reviewed his mission.  It was simple, destroy a nuclear sub that would be used to attack the U.S. and return home.  Luke stared at there page for nearly 10 minutes.  He had know idea how he would get to this sub, much less destroy it.  There was a knock on the door.  Luke immediately closed the laptop and grabbed his silenced pistol.  He rested the gun behind his back as he peered through the peephole.  Outside was a italian man, tall and skinny, but at the same time you could see some upper body muscle.  Luke knew there

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was going to be an informant waiting for him in the city, but he could not be sure this man was him. He opened the door anyways.
“Yes?” said Luke.
“Mr. Johnson, I'm afraid we don't have time for pleasantries.  May I come in?”  The italian man handed him a letter addressed to him.
Luke cautiously let the man pass into his apartment.  The man seemed tense, and a little skittish.  As he sat down, Luke opened and read the letter.  Inside was pictures of the sub and the exact location of it.  Luke knew that the time was now to destroy the sub.
“My name is Debbie.” said the man.  “I am here to help you accomplish your mission.   I have for you the c-4, which is waiting in the shed next to the docks.”
“Will you be with me?” asked Luke.
“No, I will not.  I will be watching you through my sniper rifle.  If anything goes wrong or you are captured I will shoot to kill.  We can not have sensitive data being shared with a country like North Korea.”
“I understand”  said Luke solemnly.
“Then I will leave you to contemplate the fate of your countries safety”  said Debbie.
The man briskly walked away.  Luke was left staring at the door in front of him.  He had no idea how he would be able to pull this off, much less blow up the sub.  In the letter Debbie had given to him, there was a picture and description of a man, labeled Jung Seo.  He guessed he would have to start there.  He had a lieutenant rank in the North Korean navy.  That would allow him to come to meetings with Jung and converse with him freely.
Luke got dressed and headed to the shipyard where there was a meeting scheduled at noon.  The shipyard had a military like base in the middle, which Luke was sure the meeting
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would be at.  He headed in, only to be stopped and checked by a guard.  The guard was wearing a north korean hat and uniform.  He also had a black mustache with pale skin.  Luke was cleared and headed in to see Jung sitting down talking with his advisor.  Luke lit a smoke and pretended to look busy.  More people strolled in, and about ten minutes later, Jung stood up.
“Attention, thank you my advisors for coming here on such short notice.  As you all know, this meeting is about the imdiate launch of our nuclear sub.  The americans in the west are clearly plotting against us, and the time to stop them in there tracks is now!”  He yelled.
The Koreans all shouted and cheered.  Luke joined in.
“We will launch the full might of our navy at there western seaboard, and we, we the koreans will be the leading military.” said Jung, cheering with the crowd.
“We will destroy the puny Americans and kill their president.  We will prove to the world that we are not to be underestimated, we are to be feared!” roared Jung.
The crowd was on its feet, full out screaming and cheering.  The situation was more desire than Luke realized.  He had his silenced gun in his waistband, he could end Jungs life now.  He hesitated, he needed to befriend Jung.  Jung was sitting at a table looking at a map of the U.S.  Luke sat down and continued to tell Jung that he used to live in the U.S. and that he knew where the coast guard would be watching.  Jung questioned him at first, raising his eyebrow, but soon seemed to trust him.
 "Then its settled, we will attack the coast of Oregon." declared Jung, which was met with a cry of approval.
 "Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me Captain...?"
 "Luke" he said as Jung nodded his head.  
 
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The meeting was soon dismissed and the launch date had been posted.  The sub was set to launch in less than 12 hours from now.  Luke knew the time to blow the submarine was going to have to be tonight.  He couldnt wait any longer.  Luke milled around for a bit, looking like a drunk soldier, untill 11 o clock.  Then he headed down to the shore, pistol in hand.  
 There it was.  The shiny alunium case of pounds of c-4.  And standing bwetween Luke and it, was a armed guard with an ak-47.  Lule aimed his pistol, and with no hesitation, shot at the guard. He went down in a dead heap.  Luke rushed over and dragged the body inti the harbor, where he knew it would degrade.  Then he took the top of the container of c-4 off and looked inside.  There was enough c-4 to blow a building down.  Luke took 5 packs and very carefully  put them in his bag.  He then steathly walked to the docks.
 As he walked he wondedred where the sniper was.  He wondered if he would come out of this alive, or with a bullet in him.  He was conviced it would be the latter one.  He had reached the docks.  Not suprisingly, it looked like everyone had gone down below to celebrate.  Luke took one c-4 and attached it to the helm of the ship.  He then walked over to the rear and attached another one.  Then he heard footsteps.  Luke sprang from his crouched postion and ran towards the boardwalk.  Someone was fast on his heals.
 Luke felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he fell to the cobblestone.
 "I knew you wernt one of us, boy," Jung spat at him.
 "Give me the detonator or you will die.  I have already sounded the alarms and my men will be here soon.  They will not be as hesitant to end a traitors life as I am."
 Luke kicked swung his feet at Jung and swept him off his feet.  He was left in a disconfigured figure on the ground.  Luke held the gun to his head.

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 Luke pulled out the detonator.  He knew two packages of c-4 would probaly be enough to blow the sub.  He pulled the trigger.
 "You bastard!"  Screamed Jung in a korean accent.
 "Somewhere in the distance was a large explosion.  Luke sighed.  His mission was over.  He had saved the U.S. from war and destruction.  
  Two cars came roaring up behind Jung.  At least ten armed guards came rushing out, guns pointed at Luke.
 "On the ground!" Yelled one of the maskef men.
 Luke slowley put himself on the ground.  As he did so, he noticed a figure on top of the marketing building next to him.  It was Debbie.  Luke nodded his head at him.  Debbie took a stick and pointed it at him.
 Luke spat on the ground and thougt to himself, I have served my country well.  He felt and blinding pain in his chest and fell down.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The theme in the book Divided we Fall, is fight for what is right.  This means stand up for what you believe is right and true, and defend it.  Wright believes that the Governor of Idaho is right and decides to fight for him.  When the troops come to his mansion to arrest him, Wright is one of the soldiers who does not let that happen.  Without Wright there, the Governor would of been arrested or even killed.  Wright also goes to a "training" on the edge of the border of Idaho.  If Wright had not of done this, the federal government would of come into Idaho and take over.  This would lead to the arrest of the Governor.  Wright also stands up for his squad in his social studies class.  He says "That is the problem, the rioters, the protestors, they were not peaceful at all." (page 72).  Wright not only stands up in front of his class, but also his girlfriend.  That is not an easy task, especially for such a controversial issue like the "shooting" in Boise.  The theme fight for what is right, is conveyed several times by Wright in this book.
  "You,ve no idea what its been like, seeing that girl in my nightmares" (pages 104)-Wright.  Wright does regret his actions on that Friday night in Boise.  He was fighting for what is right. He also continued to stand up for him, his squad, and the Governor, throughout the book.  He never goes against them.  What the soldiers and Wright did was right and just.  They had their orders and they followed them.  The protestors were not friendly, they were violent.  That,s why chaos broke out. Wright accidentally fired his gun.  Wright also fights for what is right when he runs from the FBI.  He ends up driving 150 mph in order to outrun them because he dos'nt want to get caught.  HE knows he did'nt do anything wrong, but the President disagrees.  This supports the theme fight for what is right because it displays standing up for what you be live in.  Dainel Wright has always fought for what is right.  He has even voiced that opinion .  Daneil Wright is a hero and should be treated as one.  Daniel wright is the definition of the theme in this book, "fight for what is right".

Monday, September 22, 2014

Thinking about writing

For the most part my revisons were mostly granatical.  Having not put a period now and there, or a comma.  I had some wording that was off too.  At first i did not know that we had to quote quotes in a special way, so i had to change that too.
    In my opinion the peer review helped the most.  I felt that my peers reviwed this very carefully and i ended up succeding because of this.  I think students know what we are learning and what to look for, much more so than parents do.
   The best way to help me learn more is to have more peer colaberation and just losten in class.  Peer collbalarion helps with getting to know others style of reading, and possibly apply that to your own blog.
    I feel that as a writer my grammar needs the most improvment.  Without realizing it, I can get very slopy gramaticaly, and miss stupid points because of spelling something wrong.  Perfecting this would greatly help me succede in English and in writing in general.