To kill a mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird

Dominic Florence

People have to make decisions everyday. Decisions such as what to wear, what to eat, or what kind of car to buy. I had to recently make a decision about whether to cut my hair or grow it long for hockey season, i decided to grow it long for hockey. When i get later on in high school i am going to have to chose what college i want to go to and what i want to master in. Maybe i’ll go to a college for hockey. There are many decisions being made everyday for many different things.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell made a decision to blame a poor African-american for raping his daughter, Mayella. After he blamed Tom for this raping, it turned into the greatest trial in their town. Tom got a great lawyer named Atticus Finch to defend him in court. Because Bob Ewell made terrible choices, this could end of with an innocent man in jail just because he is African-american. And even worse, Bob’s daughter Mayella has to lie about what happened.

This book takes place during segregation in the Southern United states. The court room will probably be filled with all white people who will be going against Tom because he is black. So an innocent man will be sent to jail because no one believes his side of the story. Everyone in the courtroom will be racist against Tom and believe Bob because he is a white man.  “Looks like she didn't have nobody to help her. I felt right sorry for her. She seemed...” Tom Robinson said in trial. Tom is saying that he didn't think she had anyone to take care of her so he was going to and then Bob accused him of rape.

“-I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!”, Bob Ewell said about Tom Robinson.  As you can see by this quote, even Bob is racist toward black people in the courtroom. This demonstrates how racism wasn't a big deal to white people back then,   but black people took offence to it and couldn't do anything about it because they were outnumbered and would be arrested for trying to hurt a white person. But if a white guy did anything to a black guy it would be okay.  

Bob Ewell tried to stab Scout, but luckily she had a Ham costume on and the mesh stopped the knife from piercing her skin. After trying to stab Scout, Boo radley came and stabbed Bob to save Scout from potentially getting stabbed again by Bob. Then Boo took the kids home and they had no idea it was him until later.

Every person makes decisions every day, some dumb decisions and some smart decisions.  Whether they’re the wrong decisions or the right decisions, it's still a choice you made.  For instance, Bob made a decision to blame a black man for raping his daughter and to try and kill a young girl.  He made some bad decisions and ended up paying for it by dyeing.

Old man and the sea book review

Old Man and the Sea                                                                                         Dominic Florence

Ernest Hemingway;                                                                                               4/22/13

Published by Simon & Schuster                                 “The Old Man and the Sea Book Review”      

1952 Fiction

Old Man and the Sea

(A Boring Fish Story)

The Old Man and the Sea is about an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago that goes fishing for eighty-four days and catches nothing. A young boy named Manolin cared for the old man and helped him fish. He got food for him and kept him safe. One day he decides to sail out further than usual. On the eighty-fifth day he drops his lines out in the gulf stream and a fish bites, he knows its a marlin.

“It has a certain charm that you don't find very often”- M. Bilberry

 

I don’t agree with this quote because I thought the story was very boring and dull. Not a charm.

“Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too?”

he makes it seem like he is talking straight to the fish when fish can't talk.

This story reminds me of a book i read called a long way gone because in both books someone is helping someone in need. In a long way gone, a doctor helped a child that just got out of war become normal again. and in the old man and the sea a young boy helps an old man catch fish.

It means someone can get brought down but never down enough to get back up and try again.

I didn't like the book. I thought it was really boring, until he caught a fish. I think he should have hooked more fish throughout the book to make it more interesting. 3 paws.

I Knew you Could Do it

1: I’m trying to tell the reader it is possible to do anything you want. You just have to believe in yourself.

2: It was easy to explain why he wanted to win the obstacle course.

3: It seemed hard to write over 1000 words

4: No questions.

I Knew You Could Do it

by: Dominic Florence

It was an early Saturday morning in late July and I, Ty Williams, am training for the Down and Dirty obstacle course. I have ran 3 miles every day and gone to the gym every morning. My daily routine consists of a healthy fruit breakfast followed by working my legs out at the gym and then a nap and a salad for lunch. After lunch I drink a protein shake (preferably mango) and go for a 3 mile run around town. While I run around town, I stop at the senior center and help serve food to them. After I run, I go home, drink water and go to bed at a decent time and repeat that process every day.

Sunday July 27th: “Today I go to a training camp down in Connecticut to work on my swiftness and agility.” Ty says. The class is called MegaMax.  Each day we work on a different part of the body. My schedule is Legs, Core, Shoulders and Chest, and Biceps and Triceps.  My two favorite are legs and Biceps and Triceps, because those are the two most important muscles I need to win the obstacle course. Some people say I cheat and use steroids but that is not true, I am just really big because I work out all the time and I am confident I will win.  It is one of my lifelong dreams and now I actually have a chance!...My class just got over and I am going out to lunch with the really pretty girl I met, she is in my class and her name is Alyssa, she is tan with brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. She is also training for something, but not as hard as mine, she is only training for a 7k race. I took her to a fancy place called the Pepper Garden where we both ordered a fruit salad and a water. “You have good taste in food.” Alyssa said.

“This is all I eat now, nothing unhealthy” Ty answered.

“So what made you want to do such a deadly obstacle course?” asked Alyssa.

“Well when I was young, I lost my dad in an obstacle course like this, he was in first place the whole time and right at the end he collapsed from an asthma attack and died. Now I want to prove to him I could be like him and win one of these, just like he had asthma and competed, I have scoliosis and I am going to compete.” He explained.

“Wow, i’m really sorry to hear that. Its terrible to lose someone from something so little, I hope you win.” She said sadly.

“Thank you.” Ty answered. “How about you come over after dinner and have a workout session? I have a video to follow.” He asked.

“I would love to.” Alyssa said with delight.

Later on that day when they went to Ty’s House:
Alyssa walks into his house and is amazed by how nice and big it is. “Okay now go downstairs and wait, i’ll be down in a sec with water.” he said.
“Okay.” She replied. When Ty came downstairs Alyssa was taking off her sweatshirt and he was amazed by her body. She wore a sports bra to workout and Ty wore a cutoff. They worked out for about an hour and a half and then Alyssa had to go back home. On her way out Alyssa said “we should do this again sometime!”
“Yes we should.” Ty responded.
Next morning, Ty woke up and found out he had the day off from camp. So he ate his usual healthy fruit breakfast and went to the gym, after the gym he came home, had a salad with a protein shake. He did not go for his 3 mile run today, instead he went to the store and bought a top of the line Treadmill. He thought that would be a better idea than going outside to run every day. When he went home he set it up and run for an hour. After he drank water and went to bed.
“Today is the big day!” He yelled. “the day of the Down and Dirty!”
He hopped out of bed, went downstairs, made a protein shake and a Fruit salad. Drank and ate all of it then went back upstairs to change and brush his teeth. He wore the lightest clothes he could. He packed a bag with water and extra clothes for after and was on his way up to New Hampshire. It was a one and a half hour ride up there, When he got there, he said “Wow! There are so many people here.” He went into the main building to check in. After he checked in they put a piece of paper on him with a number on it, his number is 1927, he remembers that number from somewhere and realized.. It was the same number his dad was in this course.
“I have to win this!” he yelled. The race consists of 10 obstacles.
The buzzer sounded which meant for all the contestants to go to the starting line. All 20 people lined up, looking at each other, they all had fear in there eyes. “POW” the bullet gets shot. Everyone takes off, “I start in second place.” one person in front of Ty, the first obstacle is coming up, it is to climb up and jump over a 15 foot wall. Easily everyone makes it over. The second obstacle is a mud slide, contestants have to climb up a slide that is covered in mud.
    Ty has made it through all the obstacles with no problems.. Now he is starting to feel some pain in his back because of his scoliosis. He doesn't know if he can finish, the next obstacle is to crawl under a barbed wire fence in mud, if you stand up you with get cut. He takes a break for a couple seconds and continues. He is still in second place and the guy in front of him is just a couple seconds ahead. He goes for it. Ty dives down into the mud and begins to crawl, not to long into the mud his back starts to hurt again, he is only about half way through and he pushes himself to the end. Finally he makes it through. Now, Ty is on the last obstacle. It is to jump over a gap of fire! "Who would even make this an obstacle!?" Ty yelled. He backs up as far as he can and  starts to run, he has caught up to the guy in first and they are neck and neck. Both running for the fire at the same speed, they jump. Ty makes it over and looks next to him to find out they guy is no longer there. Ty stop's. He looks back only to see that he had fallen and died in the fire pit. He can’t look at the man’s burnt body. He continues to finish the obstacle course in first place. "I DID IT!" He screamed. He is tearing up and thinks back to the day  when his dad died in this and says "I did this for you dad." Right away he called his mother to tell her the good news and then Alyssa. "I knew I could do it.”

Outside reading book review

A Long Way to War

A Long Way Gone; Ismael Beah; Sarah Crichton; 2007  Fiction 

       

      I really liked the book, i thought it was interesting when the kid first started talking about when he went into war. It was about a kid and his brothers that were only 12 that went into war. When they got back from war they got taken to the army to fight again. after they got out of the army they went home and there whole village was burnt down so they had to survive and steal food. 

" The first time that i was touched by war i was 12"

Ismael Beah

This is the first book i read by this author. I can compare this to another book because it was talking about not giving up, and i think this is what A Long Way Gone is talking about to. 

"They didnt want people to abandon the town, because they needed  to use the civilians as a shield against the military."

This book really spoke to me, Ishmael went through so much, having to fight at such a young age and then to have his home burnt down. Now i know to never give up. I rate this book a 5 star. it was so interesting and fun to read. 

value essay final draft

 The True Things In Life

         What is value? What does value mean? Value, to me is, anything that is special to me. It doesn't have to be the biggest or most expensive thing to have value. The little things in life can have the most value to someone. Some people say they don't care about their family or they hate their family, but they just say that. In my essay I will talk about two very important things in my life that have a huge effect on it.

When I go downstairs that Christmas morning, I look under the tree and see all my presents. I don't see too many but enough to keep me satisfied. I go and wake my mom and sister up so we can all go over and open our presents. I let my sister go first and then me, the first thing I get is street hockey balls, then a stick, and I start to wonder? I say to myself, I don't have a street hockey net so why am I getting all of these accessories? When we get done our presents I think its all over, then my mom brings me outside to the garage and opens it, and what is sitting in there blows me away. Its a street hockey net! Its not a bad plastic one with soft mesh netting, its a real hockey net made out of 2 inch steel poles and long lasting durable netting. I get so happy and use most of my Christmas presents right away!

One priceless thing I cherish so much is my family. I love when I spend time with them because they are so fun to be around. My moms side of the family is the funnest. We go down to cape cod every year to visit and i never want to leave. My cousins down there all play sports and all we do is have games in different sports like basketball, lacrosse, hockey and pool. My cousin Conner and I are on a team for everything. My other cousin Zack that is in college is on a team with my uncle. It seems a little unfair but we always end up winning because we are the most athletic ones in the family. My dads side on the other hand is not so sporty but they are always hilarious. Its weird because we all live on the same street so we can see each other whenever we want. When my dad takes us to my aunts house I always hangout with my two younger cousins that always attack me because they think they can beat me up. But every time they always get on my I throw them off and take them both down, not in a mean way though because they're both young.

There are not too many ways these priced and priceless things are similar, but there are some. One way they are similar is that Hockey and my family are the two most important items in my life. I've been playing hockey my whole entire life and I have had my family my whole life as well. Whenever I play hockey I have a fun time and it is something I want to do every day, like my family I want to be with them every day to because they are fun.

Hockey and my family are very different because I am the only one in my family that plays hockey so no one knows anything about it. Spending time with my family is a lot different than playing hockey because when I am playing hockey I am moving at a fast pace and playing rough, I hit kids and score. I can’t do any of those things when i’m with family because my parents will say it is inappropriate behavior. I will not go around the house and start to push my family members to the ground. Another difference is that I have to wear a bunch of equipment  when I play hockey, and when I go to visit my cousins I just wear clothes.

I value both my family and hockey in different ways. The way I value my family is with respect and love. I care for each and every person that is a part of my family. I value hockey with love because its my favorite sport and I love to play it. I never want to stop playing hockey, I want to play all through high school and college. I don’t care if I have top of the line equipment, I just love to play the game, and its even better for me because I am really good at it.

In conclusion, if you couldn't tell by my essay, I value both hockey and family very much. They both mean pretty much the world to me and I never wanna lose either one of them. Value is something that is true to me and I can have for my whole life.Valuable items don’t have to cost a ton of money, they can be little things that mean a lot. People underestimate their family and say they hate them and stuff, but they say that out of anger, if anything happened to them they would be devastated. That is why I care about my family so much.

Catching The Contender

Alfred Brooks from The Contender
Katniss Everdeen from Catching Fire

    Alfred was at his house one night waiting for his mom to get home from work. She got home around 7pm with dinner, while they were eating Alfred’s mom told him that his cousins were coming over for the weekend.  Alfred got excited, he couldn't wait.  
    Today Alfred had boxing practice at 12:00 until 2:00.  He got up around 9:30 am and ate a healthy breakfast, he had fruit with a protein shake to get ready for practice. Alfred went to practice around 11:30 to be early so he could stretch.  During practice all Alfred does is work on body shots and avoiding punches...  After practice Alfred went home to a nice surprise, his cousins were there.  Katniss and Prim.  Katniss is 15 and Prim is just a couple of years younger.  Alfred asked Katniss if she wanted to walk to the park, she said “yes”.  After Alfred showered and got changed, they started walking to the park.  

“How have you been?” Alfred said.  

“i’ve been good, it’s really boring in my district because we have to hunt and gather ourselves.”  

Katniss replied. When they got to the park they walked around and Katniss said,

“This would a great spot to shoot some birds.” and Alfred said,

“Haha, you can't do that here in front of everybody!”  “Do you want to go get some ice cream?” Alfred said.

“Sounds good” Katniss answered.  

Alfred and Katniss walked across the street to the local ice cream shop.  He offered to pay for her, they both got vanilla ice cream in a dish.  The total came out to $4.85 and Alfred only had a five dollar bill. “Woah, got lucky there” Alfred said.
    When Alfred and Katniss got home there parents had dinner already made.  They were having chicken off the grill.
    “You could have asked me to hunt a chicken and bring it over.” Katniss said sarcastically.

After dinner, Katniss’s mom told Prim it was time to go the bed.

“But its only 8:00 o’clock!” Prim yelled.

“Doesn't matter, you need to get up early and come with us to Alfred’s boxing match.”

Everyone else went to bed around 9:30.  
    The next morning, Alfred woke up at 8:00 at o’clock to eat breakfast and get ready for his boxing match.  The rest of the family woke up at 8:30 to Alfred dropping a glass plate on the ground that shattered everywhere!  The match was at 9:30 am and they had to leave by 9.  When they got there Alfred went into the locker room with his coach while his family waited on the bleachers for him to box.  While boxing Alfred has to wear a mouthguard and padded gloves.  At 9:30, Alfred went up on the octagon and waited for the referee to blow the whistle.  when the whistle was blown, both boxers went to the middle of the ring and tapped gloves to show they were ready.  When the match started Alfred backed up with the rope and moved in a circle.  His opponent did what he did and then Alfred moved in. He got the first punch, and avoided mostly all of his opponents punches.  The match did not get the the second round and Alfred had already knocked him down with a brutal punch to the head.  the referee started counting, 1, 2, 3.. Knockout win by Alfred.
    After the match Alfred and his family went home.  When they were home, Alfred’s aunt told him they had to leave to get home for the announcing of the hunger games participants.  They packed everything up an before they left Katniss went up to Alfred and said
    “Goodbye Alfred, i had a lot of fun this weekend!”
    “Bye! i had fun too.” Alfred said.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Alfred and his mom went out to dinner to celebrate his victory.