Fat Boy Swim

Definitely do not judge this book by its cover. At first site it seems that it is for little kids by its crazy cover and the book is also very thin but Fat Boy Swim is actually a very good book. The story is about Jimmy Kelly who is 15 years old and lives in Scotland. At the beginning of the book he is morbidly obese making him terrible at just about everything he tries except for his secret talent, which is cooking. Jimmy keeps his talent secret to everyone he knows, except his mom and aunt because everyone would joke about him because his one special talent had to involve food. Because of Jimmy’s immense size many boys and girls pick on him during school in so many ways. As time goes on Jimmy learns how to swim from his coach named GI Joe and becomes an incredible swimmer just like his dad. Meanwhile Jimmy begins to finally stand up for himself and in the act he saves a girl from getting beat up named Ellie and they soon become good friends. In the end Jimmy sizes down to a normal weight and teaches the bullies a lesson. This story has great morals and is about becoming who you really are and also shows how to succeed in life. This book shows that to live in this world one must show who you are and not hide yourself from others. It also shows that when troubles come in your life you are able to succeed through them despite the difficulty. Through this inspirational story there can be many life lessons pulled from it. I believe that most people would enjoy this book but I would recommend it to people who have or are struggling with any type of physical problems or are just interested in reading an exiting and inspirational book. Overall Fat Boy Swim is a very suitable book that includes some answers to English 2 essential questions and is very fun to read at the same time.

My Quintessential Surf Spot

All surfers seem to have their favorite spots but the quintessential surf spot of Oahu is North Beach. Because of its location on Kaneohe Marine Base this spot is at times barren and on epic days there is about 20 surfers maximum. As you walk onto the beach, signs are stuck permanently in the sand saying, "High Surf", "Dangerous Shore break", "Strong Current", but this just adds the quintessential features of this surf spot. This spot is not just quality because of its isolation from the rest of the island but there is never a day that it is flat. Like most surf spots they need a ground or wind swell to cause wave action but at this spot when the rest of the surf breaks are flat, tiny swells are joined together to break at this special spot. My favorite type of wave is a very fast, hollow, and at times crumbly for airs. North Beach is just that, along with its awesome rights and lefts, the water is consistently clear even if waters are turbulent. At the spot where you catch the wave, the bottom is about 15 feet and covered in coral but as you travel to the inside it becomes a sand bottom. This is good because you never have to worry about scratching yourself or your board on the reef.
This spot is very quintessential to me because it is such a special place. This place was also very sacred to the ancient Hawaiians because it was used as a burial area. Once walking down onto the beach you will be in awe at the waves power and beauty.

Class Discussion

In class on Friday we had a class discussion about the section entitled The Exodus. As a class we discussed whether we liked or disliked the section. Some people enjoyed this section because it really brought out the individuality of the sisters instead of seeing the family as a whole. But others disliked it because it seemed to tear apart the whole essence of the family which was what the whole book was about before the break up point. I personally disliked this section. Despite it having some very interesting and exciting moments it definitely changed the story so much that it seemed like I was reading a whole new book. This could be a good thing but it like such a huge change with the Price family the story becomes kind of bizarre.

We also discussed the father of the Price family named Nathan. Nathan Price is a very religious Baptist Preacher who took the Price family into the Congo for missionary work. After being warned many times to leave the Congo, Nathan and his family stay because he feels that God is testing him to leave. But after awhile the youngest daughter, Ruth May, dies from a snake bite. This causes Orleanna his wife and his children to leave him in Congo by himself. Not to much information is given to us about Nathan in The Exodus but we discover that he becomes very insanitary and mentally unstable. It kind of surprised me that Nathan stayed in the Congo by himself but when you think about it he probably thought that when his family left him, it was a test from God and he must stay. Baptism was very important for Nathan in the Congo. This is because the Baptist sect of Christianity believes that one must be baptized to be a member of the church. Nathan does not understand why people of the Congo do not want to be baptized and is later killed because of his views in Baptism.

Patrice Lumumba Leader of Congo

Within The Poisonwood Bible, Patrice Lumumba is a very significant person who shows leadership among the people of Congo. In the chapter titled Judges both Rachel Price and Adah Price discover that Patrice Lumumba is planned to be murdered and at the beginning of Bel And The Serpent, Orleanna describes in full detail how Lumumba was captured, beaten, and killed. After researching the life and death of Patrice Lumumba the book seems to give a historically correct overview of the situation.

Lumumba was the first elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. After 67 days of being in power Patrice was placed in house arrest by the UN. And after being beat up multiple times he was then tied to a tree with his two other helpers and shot.

Patrice was really a hope for the Congolese people and signified rebirth for them. But do to many other greedy men, the Congo was overtaken for jealous reasons. Lumumba is still an inspirational figure for the people of Congo and always will be.

Fears

Everyone fears different things. Some fear heights, the dark, and loneliness but I fear sharks. Seeing sharks up close in a cage is not scary at all for me because while in protection sharks seem harmless, very majestic, and beautiful. I don't think that I would be scared of sharks if I were not in the ocean as often as I am. I am probably in the ocean twice to three times a week and it seems at times I am lucky because I have spotted the shark before it spotted me. In my whole life I have probably seen eight sharks while in the water surfing and just thinking about those instances send a tingle down my spine. Even though you are more likely to be hit by lightning than get attacked by a shark and your chances of getting bit by a shark are one in eight million I still am very nervous at times.
One way to get over my fear to buy a new item that came out recently called the SharkShield. This shield sends out electrical signals that scare all sharks within a 15 ft range. On their website they say it has been proven to work and has a 100% guarantee. I would definently think about using this item but it is extremely expensive.

SAT Practice Essay

A couple days ago in class we had a practice SAT essay about how schools are lacking in their responsibility to teach students about morals and social issues.


I believe that as a person, morals and social issues are very important. I personally believe that in our schools, moral choices and social issues are not necessary to teach. The learning of morals and social issues should be learned at places like church, home, and with people you know.
The main goal for high schools is for students to pass standardized tests and go to college prepared. Ideas like, what is a good choice and what is bad are not relevant to the curriculum and might stir up confusion causing people to take sides on the certain idea. For example many schools in Hawaii were prohibited to say God in the national anthem due to religious views a few years ago. This event stirred a lot of controversy but in reality sent to school to be educated and not to make choices or talk about their and others beliefs.
On the other hand morals and social issues can in a way, a student if he or she is a certain circumstance. But teacher should set up a group of morals and social issues that have a good point and do not stir up an argument so that students can learn in a positive way.
In conclusion, schools should try to address morals and social issues into the curriculum but only if they are thought out and helping the student. But I believe that it is not the schools responsibility to supply all morals because there are many more places designed to help young adults choices and morals.

Mosquito Coast and The Poisonwood Bible

During this semester we have been reading the Poisonwood Bible. Right before spring break we watched a video entitled The Mosquito Coast. These two works are extremely similar to one another. In this book and the movie the families travel to a distant land in which they have discover new ways of living. Also in both of these the fathers are the head of the family and there is no exception to their decisions. At first it seems that their decisions are for a good cause but it soon becomes very excessive and almost crazy. It seems that the fathers have a view and idea that is so dear to them that they must follow through or they will fail themselves and those around him. The wives in both works are also extremely similar. Both women love their husbands but at points they feel that they have gone to an extreme with their decisions and also question their love with their husband when times get tough. The children in both works are also similar. In both the children are planning to escape from their family whether its the preachers jeep or Mr. Axelroot's plane. In conclusion both works are very similar despite their location and time period.

Orleanna Price Character Analysis

Orleanna is also a very important character in the plot of the Poisonwood Bible. Orlenna is very secretive about her views and thoughts and she raises suspicion about what is going to happen in the future. From her beginning chapter in Revelation, I feel that Orleanna is on the brink of leaving Nathan because she is becoming fed up with his neglect towards her and how he cannot change his views and values with the Congolese. Through Orleanna we can see how Nathan acts in situations and that he feels he is being tested by the Congolese just like Job in the Bible. I think that the only reason that Orleanna has stayed with Nathan is because of her children. It seems that she loves them a lot because she spends lots of time cooking and teaching them despite the difficulty of it.

Leah Character Analysis

After reading the beginning of The Revelation I feel that Leah has become a very significant person in the plot of this book. During this time period in US history people of African decent were treated unfairly and it is surprising to see Leah trying to branch out and become friends with the African kids. During her chapter in the book she speaks a lot about the girls and women of Africa and explains the difference between the women's duties and life in Africa as compared to way she lives. After trying for awhile to finally have a Congolese friend, she becomes friends with Pascal. Pascal shows her cool things of Africa and also the roles in life of the women and men. She finds that in the Congo, women are the hard workers and the head of the family which is opposite to the American culture.

Leah at School for a Day

Here in Hawaii because of the interesting climate, the plants are so much different to those in Georgia and The Congo. The colors of the plants like the yellow hibiscus and the beautiful patterns of the ferns were so exquisite and I am sure Father wished he had these plants in his garden. Father told me, “these plants needed lots of sun and continuous watering.” As I walked through the campus I spotted many workers of the school trimming and watering the plants, which showed that Father was right. As Father walked through the campus I noticed his happy facial expression and a bounce in his step because it was like we where walking through a botanical garden with perfectly pruned trees and fragrant flowers in every corner. I really liked this school because it seems to be nature centered and my father also enjoyed it.

Review of the Practice SAT's

When I read the essay's of those who where sitting around me, I found that they where all based on the same ideas. The all agreed with me about how media is not a part of us but it is all around us making it hard for it not to change your decisions. From the essays I read I was suprised to see the great detail of them and I think that I would have given them 5's or 6's. Despite the short time limit I think that they did incredibly well on intruducing the topic, going through the info, and then smoothly concluing. Good Job!

PB: Historian of Genesis

I have chose to be the Historian for my literature group this week. My job is to show information and inferences about history. In the beginning of the book the Price family travels to The Republic of Congo on a Baptist missionary trip in 1959. During this time period of The Republic of Congo, Belgium who was in power began to lose control of what was going on in the country and the people of the country wanted independence. This time was one of the most crucial in the history of Congo and the Price family probably experienced many incidences in which the Africans wanted independence because they were in the heart of the country.

My Practice Essay

I believe that media does determine what is important to most people. Because of the effect in our modern world we are surrounded by influences like movies, magazines, and television and these definitely do affect the way we live and think.

One very influential television shows here in America is America Idol. In this show contestants are auditioned from cities around the country and are then chosen by the judges to compete in Hollywood. Despite the singing part of this show viewers definitely ask themselves, of whom of these contestants are my “Idol.” With the “Idol” concept and 30 million viewers watching every show, I believe many people are affected by it and they strive to be like their “Idol.”

But there is also another side to this question. Despite the amount of influences crushed on people everyday, there are some whom make their decisions not affected by media but by their own standards. But I believe that these people are looked down on in society because they do not meet the proper qualifications of the norm, which is developed directly from the media.

In my life my parents have always tried to limit my time while watching television and being on the Internet but it seems that almost is affected by media in some way and to hide away from it is nearly impossible.

In conclusion television, Internet, magazines, the radio, and newspapers definitely do have an affect on what people think and these views are almost unavoidable. As media seems to grow in the world I believe that it will continue consume what everyone thinks.

Chimpanzee Communication

The discussion we had in class on Friday about communicating with chimpanzee's was extremely interesting. It was so cool that when I went home I began looking at the research of the chimp's at The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute of Central Washington University. Before this discussion I did not realize that Chimps are so intelligent and that they share 98.5 percent of the same DNA as us. After researching I was even more surprised to see how the Chimps can communicate with American Sign Language (ASL) and that they communicate with the other Chimps with (ASL) in the same format as a human conversation. The chimps also invent new signs for things that they haven't learned and they have been seen to use (ASL) in their sleep.

I believe that it is so cool to know how animals communicate because normally you would have no idea what they are saying. But now we know and understand how they can communicate with each other and the outside world. With such an intelligent species I think that they can do much more than sign language and maybe help us understand more about the animal kingdom.

Essential Questions

The only two essential questions I have come up with since the beginning of the semester was, How can others benefit from me? and What is my role in the world? After thinking about my quotes for a while I havent come up with a disticnt answer yet. I believe that I need to think more about more ideas and more questions before I really come to a conclusion.

The Place I Know Well

The place that I have spent much of my life at and I know very well is Kailua Beach. Because my home is so close to my place's location I have spent many days and weekends at this beach. When first seeing the beach from my beach access you can see many shades of blue throughout the bay and you slowly begin to feel the soft and powdery sand underneath your feet. As you look over the bay one can spot a rainbow of colors with the kites of kite surfers gliding across the waters surface and as you walk by Flagploles and Kalama beach you see many surfers catching small and gently waves which quickly break on shore. In my special place the waves depend greatly on the tide and the winds direction and speed. I have surfed all across this beach and I know the ins and outs of every spot. When the conditions are perfect the best spot to surf, bodyboard, and bodysurf is flagpoles. Thus named after the silver flagpole with the American flag waving in the sky directly in front of the break. Here at the beach I have spent times with friends and family and I have had a great time. There have also been times in which I was angry because I broke a surfboard or lost something special to me in the water. With all of these special experiences, Kailua Beach is my special place.

Shark Encounter

Last weekend for my mom's birthday my family and I went to the shark cage encounters in Haleiwa. I wasn't to frightened at first but my mom and sister definently were. After traveling about 2 miles out, over 20 ft swells rolingin we finally got to the spot where the sharks were. When we arrived the captain of the boat poured some blood out of a bucket into the water and within minutes we spotted a shark at the surface. Since it was about 7 in the morning it was pretty cold as we got into the cage which was in the water by that point. My sister was the first one in the cage and I could hear her screaming inside of her snorkel. As the rest of my family slowly got into the cage I was able to seeeveryone's reaction towards the sharks. My dad and I were fine but my mom and sister were freaked out. As I was in the cage I was suprised to find that sharks are actually beautiful animals. They are very graceful and when you see them face to face they dont seem to be very mean but due to their size they are definently kindah
scary. I have a couple pictures if you would like to see them.

This I Believe (Rough Draft)

This is a very rough draft of the first and second paragraphs of my essay.

I have been thinking about what I believe in and because of my passion for surfing, I believe in waves. I have grown up with all different kinds of waves since I was born. I have lived in Kailua, Hawaii all of my life and because the beach is right next to my home it is a place in which I spend a lot of time. Since I was young my mom and dad have taught me how to surf and the also golden rule of the beach “never turn your back to the waves.”
The reason you must not turn your back to the waves is because waves can suddenly become larger and sweep you off your feet and then sucking you out to sea. During a large north swell that was about 30 to 40 ft my family and I went to Waimea to watch the large waves come in. As we watched we slowly began to feel that there was not much danger so my mother and I decided to walk down the beach to take some pictures. As we walked we where vigilant of the breaking waves on shore and when we stopped we turned around to put our stuff up higher on the beach. As we did this a wave large than normal wave had unexpectedly broken on shore and swept up the beach and grabbed both my mom and I down into the water. We were terrified, I can tell you that for sure but luckily there was not another wave to sweep us further out as we climbed up the beach, this time much more attentive to the waves.
When I was younger I was especially scared of the power of the waves but as time goes on you begin to feel more and more comfortable with larger waves. There have been many instances in my life in which waves could have controlled my fate.

The Extraordinary Power of Music

The essay written by Joan Tower for the NPR's show "This I believe" is really great. The essay explains how music gives her a great joy in life that is unbeatable. In my life I have seen a much larger inscrease of the popularity of music with iTunes and the new iPods and other mp3 players.

In the life of Joan Tower she has found a love for music and states "that with music I can help to change the world around me -- if just a little bit." This quote definently connects to what we have been talking about in these first few weeks of English. Like Singer's Solution for World Poverty and The Water Buffalo it shows a way in which someone gives and helps the world around them.

This I Believe Response

As I watched the videos today of This I Believe on NPR I was struck by one especially. The one I enjoyed was "My Husband Will Call Me Tomorrow." This essay written by Becky Herz speaks of her belief in her husbands return from Iraq. The reason I liked it was because this morning I went surfing on Kaneohe Marine Base and I listened to a couple of marine's speaking with each other about the Iraq War. They compared each others experiences in Iraq and spoke about what they did and moments in which they were scared or worried. I personally feel that it must be very emotional and extremely scary at times to be a marine or the spouse of a marine.

Water Buffalo Response

The Water Buffalo video, is about an american giving a water buffalo to a poor family in China. I believe that this video has a lot of connections towards what we are doing in English. In the beginning of the video it shows that there is a fake organization in which to give money to and with this information and guy and his friend are inspired to make it into a reality. But the major connection to English is with the Singer's Solution to World Poverty. In Singer's Solution, the author discusses ways in which american people can help dying children around the world and why people do not give their money to help many helpless people. The connection between this essay and the video is that the video shows someone actually taking Singer's ideas into their own hands and helping some one in need. The person did not just donate to a society or charity but he decided to use his willing friends money to buy a water buffalo to help work and also feed a desperate family. I personally enjoyed watching the families reaction to the great gift. It seemed that they where extremely suprised and over joyed to know that someone cared about them and bought them something that they could only dream of.

A Singer Solution Response

I really like this essay written by Singer. It really makes you think about how you personally help children around the world. With the two example's he gives of the woman (Dora) and the child and Bob it gives the reader a clear understanding of Singer is trying to get at. Despite telling the reader what he should do, Singer also understands why people will not give to organizations and how sometimes people spend to much on things that they do not need.

The author is really in your face about doing what he thinks is right. He tells the reader "Now you, too have the information to save a child's life. How should you judge yourself if you don't do it." From this quote the reader is asked a question from the author of whether he or she cares about a child's life and for someone not to care is almost not human nature. So with this question the Author begins to construct his philosophy of stopping world poverty and helping people who are in serious need.

I believe that with the great research and creative writing of Singer it seems that his philosophy can help everyone in the world just by simply having people not spend so much on stuff they dont need but rather use that money and give it to people who are in need.