Comparing

In the movie Speak I noticed that  Melinda talks more than the book describes her. Also in some parts of the movie they cut out that the book has. Heather is just as  two faced in the movie than she is in the book. Andy Evans seems nicer to Melinda in the movie than in the book because he actually chases the girl I thought the girls wanted him really bad but it just makes them look good.

Melinda ex-best friend Rachel doesn’t seem like she is as bad as the author makes her seem in the book but she still is giving Melinda the silent treatment. I saw that in the movie Melinda got some of her confidence back until she was actually face to face with Andy Evans. The Art teacher Mr. Freeman seem more jumpy and excited in the movie than in the book also. One thing that didn’t change was that good old happy ending when Melinda actually spoke when she really want to.

10 most lies they say in school

1. You will use algebra in your adult lives.

 Most fobs you don't even need algebra.

2. Driving to school is a privilege that can be taken away.

That is true. 

3. Students must stay on campus during lunch. 

People just walk out then come back no will notice

4. The new text books will arrive any day now. 

We never use them they never feel like ordering them

5. Colleges care more about you than your SAT scores. 

SAT isn't really needed it's a choice.

6. We are enforcing the dress code. 

Everyone still dress the way they want.

7. We will figure out how to turn off the heat soon. 

It always warm upstairs.

8. Our bus drivers are highly trained professionals. 

You pick them right off the street.

9. There is nothing wrong with summer school. 

Summer school makes you feel stupid.

10. We want to hear what you have to say.”

You ask question they just give you an answer so you can leave them alone.

One Of The Best

Ernest (Ernie) Davis was insanely good. He was quick, fast and had that glamorous attitude that made you want to claim him as your family. Ernie had that spark that no other in the NFL players really had. 

Ernie Davis was the first African American ever to win the Heisman trophy in 1961. He attended Syracuse college were ha was a star. In 1959 he lead Syracuse to an NCAA Division 1 football championship. Also he was named Most Valuable Player.

In 1962 Ernie Davis was the 1^st round and first pick for the NFL draft to the Cleveland Browns only because the Redskins had a no African American player on the team. The sad thing is Ernie never had a chance to play a Pro football game because he was diagnosed with acute monotypic leukemia.  They started the treatment as soon as possible but he died on May 18 1963 at the age of 23 in Cleveland.

Ernie Davis could have been one of the best running backs in history but because of his illness he can only be a college hall of famer. I look at Ernie Davis and see him as a role model. But the thing is I don’t want to be just like him if I play in the NFL. My goal is to be better than him, to be somebody no one has ever seen and just a repeat. 

Mr. Highlight

Some people say he was a highlight reel. Some say he was even in the top 5 of the basketball players who ever played the game. He was the first person to ever to make a dunk from the free throw line. Although he doesn’t have many championship rings he is still one the best basketball players ever.

  Dr J was his name I think just about everyone knew it. The effect he had on people was amazing. I don’t know about anybody else but when I see previews of him doing his phenomenal dunks I just want to go outside right away at that moment just to try to dunk.

He started with the ABA as a force to be reckon with. He was throwing down the most famous dunks we do today. He wasn’t as thick as Shaq or as tall as Wilt Chamberlain but man could he get those steals and dunk hard.  Nobody at that time could do it like him.

                                  

  Dr J was always staying low on his profile. He never got into any public trouble so he has no dirt on him. He went into the NBA hall of fame in 1993 but since then he has been an investor, making money.  

Life of a Giant

He was the rookie of the year, he had 2 rings, he had 31,419 points of his career, he had 23,924 rebounds, he had 4,643 assists he was a monster in the paint (under the hoop), he was the biggest guy they have ever seen at that time. He was Wilt Chamberlain.

                     

Chamberlain was a prodigy at scoring that’s all he did and I think that’s all he knew how to do. He didn’t average a lot of assist or that many blocks it was all about out scoring his opponents and have a lot of rebounds. His biggest opponent was 11 time NBA champion Bill Russell. When those were on the court the audience didn’t know what side to be on they were just happy to see the best players in the NBA at that time.

Chamberlain had a 2 decade rivalry with Bill Russell because of Russell criticizing of the way chamberlain played. So that effected their entire personal life.  He said that he had 20,000 sexual relationships with women and never married or had children, Which goes to show he was a ladies man. Chamberlain died of Congestive heart failure in 1999.

Wilt Chamberlain has been mentioned as the 10 player of the NBA. And that was his goal to be if not the greatest, then one of the greatest basketball player ever in the NBA. But if it came down to it I would say he is the best scoring NBA player who ever lived and that’s a fact. I think it would take  miracle to see someone as tall as he was come into the NBA and do what Wilt Chamberlain did I would love see it happen.

GOOD INTENTIONS

In the book Ray and Me there is a kid named Stosh and was recently hit in the head by a baseball and he nearly died. Now his coach is telling him a story about a  guy name Ray Chapman who got hit in the head specifically in the temple by a baseball and died. Now Stosh realizes how lucky he is to be alive. Stosh has this power that if he touches a baseball card he will be sent back in time to that that time frame. So now Stosh wants to go back to 1920 and save Ray Chapman’s life and the guy who threw the pitch his life too, he didn’t die at that moment but he was forever known as the guy who murdered a man and I don’t think that was a good reputation to have. Stosh's actions didn't  make him a hero, but he did have good intentions of a hero and that is the main theme in this novel.

One way that Stosh is a hero is that he had good intentions on saving both of them but it didn't really turn out how he would have liked it to. Another heroic action that Stosh did was stall in the locker room were  Ray Chapman was and tries to make him late for the game so he wouldn't have to play. 

Stosh isn't the only hero; the doctor wants to go back in time with Stosh so he can give a note to one the 1920 doctors so he can change the future, which is their time. The note has all of these scientific cures for diseases and he is hoping that by the time they go back to their own time they will have a cure for everything plus brand new technology like flying cars or microwave ovens or something like that.

In the end of Stosh’s journey he did not save their lives but he was still satisfied because of the fact he tried, and that made him happy.  I wouldn’t expect a 13 year old boy to save two lives, although he is very brave for even going to 1920 and attempting to do that. I must say that I really admire him for that. And fortunately that won’t be his last trip. 

Two worlds

The book Slam is about a kid named Greg “Slam” Harris. Slam really enjoys basketball and that’s what he wants to do play college basket ball. He wants more people to believe in him and have some people to support him and say he can do it. The person he thinks who has it out for him is his principal Mr. Tate, but all he is trying to do is help Slam become a better student and get use to the new environment he is in,  so he says. Mr. Tate's point of view in this is not that different but in a way still very different.

Mr. Tate  saw Slam as a slacker because of the way he was in school, he didn't even get to know him just judged him for what he saw. If he thinks your slipping a little bit in classes he won’t hesitate to take out of sports or call your parents for a meeting to see how they can fix the problem. For slam Mr. Tate focuses more on him because this is a more high class school  then what slam is use to. So basically Mr. Tate is helping Slam adjust to the new school, and he will do everything he can and has to do to assist him.

I see that Mr. Tate’s intensions are good but obviously his style isn’t really working out for neither of them. Slam is disappointing his mom and dad with his grades. Also I know that Mr. Tate wants to see some progress in Slam but it’s just not turning out that way. Mr. Tate needs to find a solution to this problem before Slam gets out of hand and starts to fail more classes and soon enough he might not graduate. That would really effect Slam if he doesn’t even have a high school diploma because how would you show a good impression to the NBA and they see you haven’t Finished high school. Mr. Tate wouldn’t want that on his conscious when he knows he could have had helped him but choose to not really dig deep and actually help him.

Eventually they make amends with each other and find a way for Slam’s study habits to be better involving basketball. Just like him and his dad made some time to spend with each other.

Rise above Hate

“You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree.”  Malcolm X

The author of the book The Hoopster is Alan Lawrence Sitomer

racism is one of the themes theme

 Racism is the theme because the author wants the reader to learn something if not all ready about racism and how it can hurt people.

 Specific support/quote-In the book The Hoopster Andre gets beat up by a white gang because he was black and was going to succeed in life.

When everything  was over and went to the hospital for some reason that beating made him want to write more stories because obviously that beat up did not faze him.   

Andre’s goal is to warn kids about the real world out there and still be brave enough to go for their dreams and don’t let anybody stop you. Andre hopes he sees a kid step into his office and remind him of himself but not go through the beat and still be successful.

Time

Over time people change in goods ways and bad. But in this case it’s good. When I was younger I heard that as you get older people get wiser and learn new things from experience or just read a book about it or someone told them. If the person did have to experience something to learn a lesson then I hope it was a good lesson and not one that will scar them  for life.

Ten years has passed and Andre is now an adult. He works for the cities news paper for kids telling them good advice on school going for your dreams and striving for good goals. He talks about his personal life but makes it funny so it won’t be a sob story because many kids do not find that interesting.  Kids are allowed to write back and ask to for Andre to write a story that they are interested in but makes it more interesting.

As you can see Andre is very happy with his life, he hasn’t gotten married yet but plans to et married and have children. He is still distraught about getting beat up because of his race but he tries to move pass that and get on with his life. He is doing good for himself and I don’t think he is going to fall back any time soon.

Happiness and Pain

“Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving”, said Walt Disney. In the book The Hoopster, by Alan Lawrence Sitomer, the author relates this idea to life in so many ways and shows how racism hurts other people.

In the book The Hoopster, somewhat it’s a sad story but then again it’s not because the main character Andre Anderson is surrounded by his best friend Shawn and his cousin Cedric. Those three love to play basketball. They are competitive when they play with each other, and usually they argue about who won and who cheated but at the end of every game it’s with laughter, jokes and Happiness. Andre is the best left handed player on the team; in fact he’s the best player on the team period. But Andre doesn’t just like basketball he has the dream of becoming a Journalist so he tries to secure a Job this summer working at a Magazine. I think for being a young teenager and knowing what he wants to be when he grows up is amazing, because there are grown-ups that still don’t even know what they would like to do for a living. It’s good that he has an idea of what he wants to be because it’s a chance that he might change his mind and want to be something else later in life.

Shawn, Andre's best friend thinks that Andre spends too much time on working, so Shawn introduces Andre to a Latino girl named Gwen, who is extremely sweet to Andre. When Andre stresses over anything Gwen is there to help Andre take his mind off things and lets him just relax. I think would be the perfect girl for Andre because she’s kind, respectful, encouraging and not a wild child. Andre is sometimes the total opposite, and I think opposites attract so their perfect for each other.

Andre’s boss wants Andre to write an Article on racism. While Andre finished the Article and was put on display the next night when Andre was walking home from a basketball practice Andre was violently attacked by a racist gang that doesn’t like black people and it was bad for Andre because he was black. Andre was sent to the hospital with his friends and family is left wondering whether or not he will recover from the attack.

Fortunately he recovered from the horrible attack but Andre was badly injured on his right arm. When Shawn came inside the emergency room and saw Andre in the bed Andre had said to Shawn “those people who beat me up are stupid they ruined my right arm but I’m left handed” Andre said with a chuckle Shawn tries to enjoy the joke but he can’t just laugh because he see’s Andre in this condition. But Shawn was just admiring how strong Andre is because he was in pain in a hospital bed and still had a smile on his face that’s brave.

As you can see the author relates to life in so many ways and shows how racism hurts other people. I admire Andre’s bravery because he seems like he could be a good role model for kids and I think he is going far in life especially because now he knows what it’s like to be on the edge of his life not know if he would live or die. And even after being attacked he had a big grin on his face.

Mr. Mason's Jar

I think what was inside that jar was a finger. I think the finger was so gross that it scared him for life. It was probably alive too because not any ordinary finger was going to scar him, It had to be the ultimate most revolting finger he ever saw. 

My Founding Fathers

Thank you for my freedom because I wouldn’t  be able to get this marvelous education without my founding fathers. I can’t really imagine what they had to go through just to this country the way it is now.  Freedom means a lot to me for many reasons like we have democracy and many countries don’t have the freedom of democracy, some are dictated countries or have the family presidents.

This country has everything its every needed and wanted. Some things that we have are things that we are blessed with, such as having the freedom of speech. If we the people don’t like something we have a fair chance of changing it. This is some of the greatness that this country has to offer.

As you can see there is many reasons that shows us how great this country is to have all of these things. Also how grateful I am to be here and it makes me proud of how far this country has gotten.  We did have some struggles in the past but somehow we overcame those struggles and became the great nation that we are today.

Blood and Basketball Cause/Effect Piece

Authors Note-  A young man is offered a chance to play college basketball but gets stopped up by his troublesome brother.
The book that I read recently was called Blood and basketball. It's about this troublesome kid who was invited to play with a college basketball team. As soon as he started playing college ball his brother was getting out of jail. While his brother is out of jail Him and his brother starts to get into a lot of mischief until he has to make a decision to leave his brother or stay with his future. And he does choose to leave his brother and stay with his career.


The main character, Dale, had a hard life growing up. Now he gets a chance to play with a college basketball team because they think that he is a great player, and could have a really bright future ahead of him. The problem is, with his brother getting released from jail he is becoming late for basketball practices and missing his curfews. Although it's a difficult problem, there is still a solution. Dale needs to do the right thing and tell his brother that he cant keep hanging out if he is going to keep getting him in trouble, continue messing with his future, and stop putting him in an awkward and difficult position to choose between fun and the right thing. Dale finally chooses the right thing and sets the record straight. I think that this falls into the category of Person vs Self because he is fight with himself to choose between fun with his brother or work for his future.

Air Jordans

The thing you get for the first of your life and you don’t know why you, you don’t know what it’s for you just know that it is yours now and that it’s new well new to you. 

The first pair of Air Jordan’s I got was for my eighth birthday.  My mom told me that she doesn’t want me to mess these up right away because they were so expensive. I wanted to wear my new shoes to school the next day but my mom said no because she thinks that I was going to get them dirty but I disagreed. I brought them to school the next day despite what my mother said so I was being very careful to not mess them up. Until recess came and I was running around and playing in them but when recess was over I saw that my new pair of shoes had dirt and mud all over it and I knew it was over for me.

So I try to clean it off during class but it just wasn’t coming off. The rest of the day I was just wondering how I was going to explain my messy shoes to my mom, But when I came home and I told her she said she already knew I brought  it to school

I was waiting for a punishment but she didn’t say anything she just kept watching T.V it was very awkward.

The next I find out that she bought me two pairs of Jordan’s she told me she got one pair of Jordan’s free but the other pair she got half off because she knew I was going to mess them up. I thought to myself like am I that predictable. But I guess nobody knows you like your mom. 

I like Red

Author note-



I love the color red because it reminds me of fire and fire is somewhat interesting because of it's colorful flame.
Every time I listen to music I just think of the color red. My mom said that When I was younger I said just in case of an emergency she wanted me to say the code word which was red because that is my favorite color. I used red for mostly everything and I don't think that me and red  are ever going to be apart.

What do I want to be when I grow up

Author's Note- What I want to be when I grow up and why I want to do that with my life and why would it be good for me.


 When I grow up I want to be somebody. I want to be the person that a kid can look up to and that they want to do the same things that I did. But hope that they don't do the same as I did I want them to do even better than I did. I want to be an encourager to people, I want to be a hero.

When I grow up I want to be a Pro football player. I want to be a football player because it's something that I've been growing up doing. I am really good at it and being a Pro football player has a lot of great benefits. Well one good benefit is that that you get payed doing something that you love. The second thing is you get to travel see different things. And third thing is you get payed for going something you love how can it get any better than that. Being a Pro football player is what I want to do with my life and I don't think anything is going to change my mind.

My favorite sports Team

Author's Note- My favorite sports team why the Celtics is my favorite team.



My favorite sports team is the Boston Celtics. I like the Boston Celtics because they have the best squad in the league. Not only they have the best team now they have always had a good team with great players.

The majority of the people on the Celtics team is big. They excellent shooters, passer also defensive players. My favorite player on the Celtics is Kevin Garnett. He's my favorite player on the team because he can move good and still cross and dunk on people for his age. Kevin Garnett is just a big guy on a mission.

 

IfI had abillion dollars

Author's Note: Don't spend one billion dollars in one day because you won't have a chance to spend on the stuff you really want.


 I was bored and sad but I still have my dad,
As I fixed my collar I look down I magically see about a billion dollars,
 It looked nice and green I was just a teen,
I walk around the mall and said
 It was too bad I spent it in one day.

Basketball Takes Courage

The book Blood and Basketball, by Janice Greene, helps readers understand who is a real friend and who is not. The author informs readers to not allow family to come between you and your dream. It’s really sad when family members try to come in between you and your future. The book Blood and Basketball is about a guy named Dale, who recently graduated from high school, was the M.V.P of the year and was chosen to play with the Jackson Eagles basketball team. The coaches of the Jackson Eagles believe another player on the team named Will, can be a brother figure to Dale and keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, Dale’s older brother Bode is going to soon be released from prison and Dale eagerly awaits his return. When Bode was finally released and returned home he walked into a room and immediately focused his attention on Will. Later Bode suggested that he and Dale go to a party, but Will warned that they shouldn’t stay too late because they both have practice in the morning. Bode felt threatened so he pulled out a pocket knife on Will, threatening Will back; soon after Bode and Dale left. I know Dale only left with Bode because Bode would always bring up the, “family first” and “you can only trust blood” speech. Because of Bode, the next morning Dale was late to practice and was suspended for being late. However, Dale did not realize Bode was partly to blame for causing him to be late. Two weeks passed and Dale finally realized that Bode was going to get him kicked off the team, so Dale approached Bode and told him exactly that. Dale was heartbroken that he had to let his brother go. Dale is better off without Bode because at the end of the season Dale and his teammates went all the way to the finals and won. Also Dale was voted rookie of the year. Two weeks after that Bode was sent back to prison for selling drugs. Dale wrote to Bode many times but Bode never wrote back. It breaks my heart to see, hear or even read about someone that is ruining your future, especially your own family. Bode was just a bad influence on Dale and he almost cost him his future. It was good that Dale stood up to Bode and told him he was a bad influence because if he hadn’t he’d probably be in jail with Bode. So what Dale did took a lot of courage, something a lot of people are scared to do.

Happiness to Pain to Happiness

Author's note: A teenager that is too young to go through a lot of pain, but he did and has friends and famiy to support him. First he has the perfect life then his perfect life turns upside down.

“Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving”, said Walt Disney. In the book The Hoopster, by Alan Lawrence Sitomer, the author relates to life in so many ways and shows how racism hurts other people.

In the book The Hoopster, somewhat it’s a sad story but then again it’s not because the main character Andre Anderson is surrounded by his best friend Shawn and his cousin Cedric. Those three love to play basketball. They are competitive when they play with each other, and usually they argue about who won and who cheated but at the end of every game it’s with laughter, jokes and Happiness. Andre is the best left handed player on the team; in fact he’s the best player on the team period. But Andre doesn’t just like basketball he has the dream of becoming a Journalist so he tries to secure a Job this summer working at a Magazine. I think for being a young teenager and knowing what he wants to be when he grows up is amazing, because there are grown-ups that still don’t even know what they would like to do for a living. It’s good that he has an idea of what he wants to be because it’s a chance that he might change his mind and want to be something else later in life.

Shawn, Andre's best friend thinks that Andre spends too much time on working, so Shawn introduces Andre to a Latino girl named Gwen, who is extremely sweet to Andre. When Andre stresses over anything Gwen is there to help Andre take his mind off things and lets him just relax. I think would be the perfect girl for Andre because she’s kind, respectful, encouraging and not a wild child. Andre is sometimes the total opposite, and I think opposites attract so their perfect for each other.

Andre’s boss wants Andre to write an Article on racism. While Andre finished the Article and was put on display the next night when Andre was walking home from a basketball practice Andre was violently attacked by a racist gang that doesn’t like black people and it was bad for Andre because he was black. Andre was sent to the hospital with his friends and family is left wondering whether or not he will recover from the attack.

Fortunately he recovered from the horrible attack but Andre was badly injured on his right arm. When Shawn came inside the emergency room and saw Andre in the bed Andre had said to Shawn “those people who beat me up are stupid they ruined my right arm but I’m left handed” Andre said with a chuckle Shawn tries to enjoy the joke but he can’t just laugh because he see’s Andre in this condition. But Shawn was just admiring how strong Andre is because he was in pain in a hospital bed and still had a smile on his face that’s brave.

As you can see the author relates to life in so many ways and shows how racism hurts other people. I admire Andre’s bravery because he seems like he could be a good role model for kids and I think he is going far in life especially because now he knows what it’s like to be on the edge of his life not know if he would live or die. And even after being attacked he had a big grin on his face.