Mentor Post

My story, Problem Solving, deals with the main character Cody and his willingness to do whatever it takes to pass math. Never paying attention, he finds it difficult to focus and therefore do well when it comes to the tests. One day, Cody realizes there is no way he can pass the test, so he results to cheating. Through the course of the story, the audience sees the how desperate Cody is for a passing grade, but when things go bad, Cody cannot help but feel shame.

To help write my story, I thought of one of the most infamous cheaters who ever lived; Barry Bonds. Bonds was accused of taking steroids during his lavish baseball career. In an article written by Ewen MacAskill, he writes on Bonds' conviction and how he only made it worse for him by denying the truth and pleading innocent. I use his approach as a guideline to make the audience understand that it is the wrong approach to the situation.

Another source i used in order to help my story take off was an article published on foxnews.com. Mark McGwire, another baseball great, was accused and found guilty of taking steroids during his baseball career. However, instead of denying the truth like Bonds did, McGwire came clean and admitted to taking steroids. He was caught and owned up to it becuase there was no way to deny the clear evidence.

I am using these articles in order to show the importance of being honest and having good morals. If Cody had taken the Bonds route, he would have just gotten into more trouble than before because he lied about it. Instead Cody takes the honest route like McGwire and only benefits himself and eventually, gets a second chance.

Comments week 6

http://tucker-wheaton.blogspot.com/2011/10/much-to-blog-about-nothingexcept-bruins.html?showComment=1318814913150#c2366856744173361971
http://sydneycochran7.blogspot.com/2011/10/perseverance-key-to-success.html?showComment=1318815678148#c7126876306863856890
http://codydaveyenglish.blogspot.com/2011/10/waking-up-to-music.html?showComment=1318816113850#c7009988038576955523
http://adamferguson16.blogspot.com/2011/10/land-of-gweeblets-prologue.html?showComment=1318816397715#c3027276197279755255
http://alexjosephson.blogspot.com/2011/10/controversy-is-cheerleading-sport.html?showComment=1318816589819#c4550523591747222813

Comments for Week 5

http://freelandjesse.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-i-believe.html

http://tucker-wheaton.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-i-believe.html

http://nathanefuller.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/this-i-believe-essay-nanas-hugs/#comment-33

http://licensetobemorallyrational.blogspot.com/2011/10/blissful-blindness.html?showComment=1318288770192#c5403403494487613615

http://sydneycochran7.blogspot.com/2011/10/personal-narrative-shifting.html?showComment=1318289049254#c1985248584540693218

http://chandlermayberry.blogspot.com/2011/10/life-is-prize-live-every-moment-like.html?showComment=1318290841651#c591037349233559112

http://codydaveyenglish.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-path.html?showComment=1318291078380#c7580236738518859366

Success of a Man

When success is achieved, it usually comes with the price of defeat. In order to truly know the feeling of success, one must first go through a series of difficulties and failures, only to make them understand the sweet joy that comes with success. With failure, we as human beings are able to recognize the pain and sorrow that come along with it which makes us strive to further better ourselves in order to avoid the feeling of failure in the future. When one thinks success, a number of definitions may cross the mind. To some, success means being rich and living a life of luxury. However, to some people, success is being surrounded by loved ones and doing what makes you happy.

The true definition of success in my opinion is living a life that is filled with a plethora of happiness and joy and doing what you love, regardless of the material things in which one has. Growing up, I lived a life that was filled with careless joy. Running through the yard on a hot summer’s day I was able to make do with what he had. I was never a kid who thought about what we didn’t have, rather a kid who was relieved and blessed for having what we did have. With a roof over my head at all times, I was able to feel safe and secure throughout my childhood. I look back today and realize just how lucky I was. With people living on the streets, desperately in search for a job, or a meal, I understand the importance of being able to sleep in my own bed at night with a roof over my head, and a house full of people that love me right down the hall. As a young child, I looked around and noticed the unfair circumstances that surrounded me. I would go to school and listen to all of my friends bask in the glory of getting that new expensive item that was just ‘to die for’; and as I sat and watched I could not help but feel disappointed and ashamed. I look back now and reflect on the past, thinking of how ridiculous it was to be ashamed of my childhood. So what my parents didn’t get me everything I wanted, they got me everything I needed and still do to this day and for that I am forever grateful.    

                Looking back today, I realize that my childhood is what made me the young adult I am today. My views and opinion on success are based off of my childhood, making me understand that just because one does not have a lot of money does not mean they are not successful. Success is measured in whatever way one feels necessary. As a maturing young adult, I use my past in order to focus on my future. I did not have a lot as a child, yet I was a still a little boy full of joy. My parents made sure that I lived a happy life as a child because it was those years that would shape and mould my beliefs and opinions for the future. I reflect on the past and look at myself in the mirror today and realize, that no matter my economical circumstances and no matter my lifestyle, my life is my life and my opinions are my own. I am who I am and I am proud of that fact. I am successful. 

Morality Through Literature

                Everybody has morals that differ from one another. Each person has a definition of what is considered good and what is considered bad. What one person may consider a good moral, someone else may consider it as a bad moral. Whether a moral is good or bad is impossible to classify. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, he gives each character a set of morals that differ from each of the other characters. The characters he uses to display these differences include Liesel, Liesel’s birth mother, and Liesel’s foster father Hans Hubermann.

                An instance where morality is displayed in Liesel’s life is when she steals the books. While attending the burial ceremony of her brother, Liesel discovers a book in the snow, The Grave Digger’s Handbook. It is here where steals her first book. This leads to the stealing of numerous books throughout the course of the novel and allows the audience to understand the moral standpoint of Liesel. Liesel also succumbs to the pressure of stealing food from the farmer, showing that she will do anything for the greater good of her and her family. Some may question this act and consider it as immoral. However, it contains good intentions as she is only trying to feed her family. Thievery is an illegal and immoral act, but with good intentions as she has for the act, some may look at it as a moral act.

                Liesel’s birth mother puts her kids up for adoption in the beginning of the novel. As such an awful act as it may seem, she does this with good intentions. She does this act in order to keep her children safe from the Nazi party. Many people may see this as she does not love her children, but puts them up for adoption in order to save them and keep them safe.

                Hans Hubermann contains a characteristic that may seem foolish to some. Hubermann does not agree with Nazism and their way of going about things. He paints over graffiti that is disrespectful towards Jewish people and takes a positive stance for their safety and rights. Going against the Nazi way, he hides a Jewish man in his basement for a period of two and half years, something that the Nazis would consider immoral. For Hubermann, this act of kindness is considered moral because he is doing a kind and generous thing for someone in need.

                Zusak uses each character as a pivotal piece to his novel, The Book Thief, in order to display the differences between each of their morals. What one may consider as immoral, another may consider as moral with good intentions. There is no complete definition as to what is moral, for everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Zusak’s novel does a magnificent job to display the differences between people’s morals and beliefs and to show why it is impossible to characterize something as moral or immoral.

Comments for Week 2

http://codydaveyenglish.blogspot.com/2011/09/personal-blog.html\

http://tucker-wheaton.blogspot.com/2011/09/moral-compass-guide-to-decision-making.html?showComment=1316387444556#c8706574464984083087

http://freelandjesse.blogspot.com/2011/09/believe-in-yourself.html?showComment=1316387582495#c2534481565319143694

http://licensetobemorallyrational.blogspot.com/2011/09/walk-in-my-shoes-for-day.html?showComment=1316387829845#c1157499454401270154

http://worldlitblogyo.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-moral-compass.html?showComment=1316387967440#c6135062640839701787

My Moral Compass: The Path to Happiness

Family and friends are the most important aspect of my life. Through the good times and the bad, no matter what, your family and friends are there to support you. If you make a mistake, they are the first to look past it and accept the fact that we all make mistakes. It seems as though the unhappy people in the world are those that have nobody truly close to them and the reason behind this is simple. They have nobody to be open with, nobody to share their ideas with, and nobody to connect to. My family and friends are the most important people in my life because I know that as soon as I am feeling lost or confused, they are always there to point me in the right direction, much like a compass.

Confidence is essential to achieve anything in which you want in life. Being confident is the only way to get what you want. You have to have a positive attitude to achieve anything that you wish to achieve. You need to have confidence in yourself and also in others around you to ensure a guarenteed positive result.

Love is very important to have in one’s life. The love of others and for others allows you to make and keep connections with other people that are essential to ensure happiness. The love of my friends and family is strong, one of the strongest connections in my life which makes me who I am. Without the love of my family and their love for me, I would be nowhere and I would have no one. Love also relates to the things you love. You must love what you do in order to be truly happy with it. The love one has for the people around them and that love the people around them has for that person shapes and makes who that person is.

Music is the greatest way to express yourself and your feelings. Take a look at every new artist out there. They all have one thing in common; they use their words and beats to express their views and opinions, in order to open up the world to new things. Everybody listens to music and it does not matter what type it may be, they all have the same purpose. The purpose is to let the world know who they are, what they believe in, and to just make people happy and inspire them. With music, the world moves in a new direction, one beat at a time.