Comparative Essay

 Authors note: This is a comparative piece between The Jordan Rules, and SPY! For a Comparative essay.

Is it love, pride, or even greed? In the two books The Jordan Rules, and Spy! By Sam Smith, and Anna Myers; the two subjects might be completely off from each other one talking about basketball and the other talking about war, but somehow they both talk about the same concepts. That leaves one question, what are and how are the concepts alike?

The first concept of both books is love? Spy! Talks about how a teacher, but now a captain of the army Nathan Hale was looked at and believed for teaching a community and building great bonds and relationships with his students and their parents. The war started by the British had moved along and carved its own path to the town where the teacher Nathan Hale was hanged. Nathan Hale wasn't hanged for teaching students, the British would have no right; he was hanged because he was also a spy for America, he died with his final words remembered, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Nathan knew he was going to die, but to die for his country meant more than hiding and having the town destroyed and the town people killed with him getting away clean. In The Jordan Rules, Michael Jordan the team leader and heart for the organization is put on the line for basketball. Love for him means his teammates and determination for the game. It is more than just a game to some; it is a lifestyle not a choice. The closing seconds of that game was life or death whether many see it as a game or as a lifestyle.

Another concept used in both books was greed. As many see it in SPY! The man was not greedy, he was a heartwarming kind fellow to die for his country, but as others see it he was a jerk to even thinking about running away and not taking one for the team as they say. His duties were to educate the children and die for his country whether it was by choice or by force. Greed carried over to The Jordan Rules because of one name Michael Jordan; Michael Jordan was known as the greatest player in history to some, but to others he was a greedy snotty player not passing the ball to go for the fame. Michael Jordan took the game winning shot to win the semi-finals game for the Chicago Bulls, he made it with a smile on his face just as much as the person next to him, but if he were to miss the fans wouldn't of thought so high of him anymore; Michael Jordan going from once a beloved player, to a snotty greedy player out for the stats.

Was it a pride issue? Michael Jordan also couldn't stand to lose. He didn’t talk bad about what his team did, but he wouldn't let the ball be in their hands in the closing seconds of the game. In the closing seconds of the game he tried to be the most elusive player possible which could have made him look snotty again. His passion for the game, and determination to win was to overpowering in his mind; he forgets sometimes which is right or wrong. Compared to SPY! Nathan Hale's pride was his greatest strength. Him taking the hit and suffering his life for his country was for his father. He would have lived with shame and could have destroyed the country if he hadn't had the will to die for his country. Pride had been a key factor in each serious of events.

Even though one is just a game to some that might end with a smiley on everybody's face and the other might be violence and war with many deaths and tragic events for a country. Each of the subjects has their similarities; dealing with pride, love, greed, and pure instinct.

Text Structure for SPY!

         In the book Spy! A local teacher Jonah is being hanged by the English. Little did the English know by hanging this teacher it helped them out in many more ways then they thought. They thought by hanging this teacher  that it should scare the children enough that the schools would have to close down, but the effect was greater than what they thought. By hanging the teacher it was a neighborhood scare, the schools would have to close and the community would be threatened. The community would also be threatened because they were sending a message. Any person to not follow there orders would be killed.

         The term sending the message doesn’t mean electronically texting now a days. It was a term used to scare people, and tell them we mean business or this shall happen. The English weren't trying to punish the town people, they were only scaring them enough to leave their mark, also mark their territory.

       They marked their territory because it was almost like hide and seek. They weren't trying to live in the presence, but only the past. They were telling them we have struck this town who's next without getting caught. The scare was enough to try to take over the town. 

Little Boy Got Lost

In the city of Portland, a little boy named Johnny was wondering around the streets at night when he heard a bang. The roar of the bang was so loud Johnny fell to the ground knocked out. Later that evening Johnny's mother LaRonda woke up in the morning doing her normal routine; she went downstairs to make coffee and breakfast and turned the T.V. on.  She waited about fifteen minutes when she realized Johnny isn't home so she took her jacket and hat and headed outside.

When LaRonda walked outside she immediately thought Johnny's favorite place is Chucky Cheese. When she arrived at Chucky Cheese she asked Chuck the head manager is he has seen Johnny Chuck replied, "Umm yes for a matter of fact I have, he walked across the street with a couple of guys this morning." LaRonda thought couple of guys? Johnny was kidnapped! She immediately called the police to tell them when she saw a van go by her. She dropped the phone and grabbed the bike next to her; the chase was on. With her legs being so strong she caught up to them and jumped onto the front of the car and ripped off the windshield. She saw Johnny in the back screaming, she dove back there and grabbed him like he was the like Popsicle in the box and then ran home. LaRonda lived with Johnny happy forever.  

On a usual Saturday

On a usual Saturday, Rodney would just be kicking back relaxing and watching the Marquette game. Then he was watching the television when he saw a commercial about Marquette. The commercial said that you could win season tickets for the Marquette Golden Eagles basketball team if you can jump over a pool full of hungry sharks. Rodney knew he had to jump that pool of sharks even if it meant his life.

Later that day Rodney went onto the internet to search where to go to; to jump the pool of sharks, when he found a website that said this offer ends in the next 2 hours. He also found the street address it was Sylvester 21st street. He immediately screamed saying that's at least 1 hour 45 minutes away. He called his friend Johnny Tupkins. Johnny answered the phone saying "Are you crazy? It's four o'clock in the morning!" Rodney replied "I know But I need these tickets can you drive me?" He also said "Fine I will, but I get to go to the games with you."

Rodney arrived at the pool with only 15 minutes to spare. He had his bike and a helmet, and his enthusiasm to do this crazy stunt. Then he looked down from the top of the ramp and says the Great Whites and the Hammer Heads. Johnny says "Are you going to go already I'm tired it's 5 o'clock in the morning." Rodney replied “I don't know if I want to do this anymore." Johnny answered, "WHAT! I drove you 100 miles away and you’re going to pull this crap." Rodney said, “Your right I'll do it, right after Johnny said you better hurry you only have 15 seconds. Rodney sprinted down to his bike he ran, he biked, and he made the leap! But he had to land in 3 seconds as the clock was ticking down Rodney looked down and saw the sharks jumping, one of the Great Whites just jumped and popped Rodney's tired he had an emergency landing. As the clock was ticking 3...2...1 Rodney landed!!! As everyone was cheering Johnny ran over because he was in pain, he landed on his spine, he was paralyzed from the hip down. Rodney did and succeeded the challenge, but he will not be able to go to any Marquette games again.

Point of View

Authors Note: This is a point of view piece that I am writing for my character from my novel. 

        In my book a local teacher is about to be hanged. His point of view is just thinking these are the last couple breathes I'm going to breathe on Earth ever again. Then there is another point of view and that is the point of his students. Jonah is thinking that he will never learn again because of the limited teachers in the restricted area, and the teacher was very close almost like a father. Jonah never knew his father, his father died in combat after he left the family for personal needs. His father felt so terrible for leaving the family to pay back his dews he went to fight for his country.

The final point of view is his fathers. His father was in the war thinking about his decisions that were made. He thought about how he left a family for personal needs. Then once he died he was thinking about his son and the position he was in, only thing going through his mind was praying for his son to make it out alive.

The Outsiders

              Which one is right? In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton a group of kids also known as a gang are  challenged physically and mentally by another group of kids. These two groups are known as the Soc's  and the Greasers. There are many differences between the two; the Greasers have been known for  violence, and poverty. Then the Soc's have been known for wealth, good fortune, and for snotty  personality. So is either one good or evil?

             In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the Greasers are viewed as bad people, and failures in life.  In many opinions including mine The Soc's are considered evil; the Soc's are snotty, they think they  are better than everyone because they have money. Other than their money they're just as bad as  everyone else. They fight, they steal, the only think they have on the positive side to their name is  their wealth. If you were to read the book on page 101, "I wouldn't have. I would have let those kids  burn to death." was a conversation between Randy and Two-Bit. This conversation has clearly stated  the caring and heartwarming personality of the Greasers and what they would do other than what  the Soc's would of done. As a Soc you think you are better than people, but to many other people there was and still is a saying that money ruins you.

          Overall the Soc's did learn acts of kindness and did play the same dirty ways as the Greasers. Although the Greasers are poor and violent, and the Soc's are rich and snotty they all have their same differences. If there was a right or wrong; good or evil the Soc's are evil, Greasers are good. 

 

Sodapop

Author's Note: One of the main characters in the story is named Sodapop; Sodapop is a touch sixteen year old boy with a limited level of parenting, causing him to take over the dad role of the family. Sodapop is in a gang along with Ponyboy, he has to take care of his brother in order to survive. I would like to know if you understand Sodapop? 

It is tough being sixteen and basically the father of your family. Ponyboy, his younger brother doesn't know how to use his head; always getting into trouble. Then Darry is always yelling at Ponyboy which causes Ponyboy to almost quit. Then Sodapop the attractive one of the family some would say, yet he doesn't know it yet. His blue-gray eyes and his face that looks like an actor attracts the ladies to him. Sodapop is also looked at different because he is a greaser that dropped out of school. He is really smarter than people think and a better kid than he looks, he is just underestimated.

The Ghost

With my back up against the wall, nowhere to run I thought it was over. I then slipped through the wall to another dimension as I was thinking "What?" I then realized what my purpose in life was, I was a ghost. At the time I didn't realize how great my life was now, all I could think about is how it all happened. After a big blow to the head it all came clear again what happened.

I was 15, fearless, strong. I had a weakness off thinking I was untouchable. As my friends brought me to Guatemala for my 15th birthday I had found the giant Guatemala sinkhole. With my fearless self I had no choice but to go for it. I had gotten a parachute and jumped the end was near, my life had been transferred to a ghost where now I live my life to the fullest.

The Tell-Tale Heart

What is wrong with this man? In the short story "The Tell Tale Heart", a man who is nameless sneaks into another man's room and waits an hour to kill him. The unknown man had somehow killed this man without any weapons or finger prints showing. He then took the dead man and put him in the bathtub of the room and cut of all of his limbs and buried him under the floorboards. So is this man insane?

            In many minds this man is insane, and in my mind he is insane. To be insane means to be mentally deranged or utterly senseless. This unknown man has proven that he is insane not only for killing a man and cutting off his limbs for no reason, but for also telling everyone and repeating I am not insane. Another symptom of being Insane is to be in denial. The unknown man was in denial the whole story and also was crazy when putting the body under the floorboards while laughing. When the man was laughing it wasn't a humorous laugh, it was an evil victorious laugh. Evil is also another way of saying insane, to harm innocent people is cross the line and crazy. If you were to call this man sane, then it would be sane to be cannibal or any other way of killing others.

Many other people might say it is completely normal in human nature for a person to die or be killed; didn't we have a war to stay free from other countries? The man then is considered normal and is innocent, but what normal man cuts off the corpse of another man's body for the thrill for the excitement, for no good reason. There isn't a way this man can be innocent because of the harm and things he has done I believe strongly this man is guilty and is insane.

Patriostism response

       If someone were to ask me if I was proud of my country I would have to say yes. I would say yes because of the steps we have made towards having a perfect country. Our country has maybe the best doctors and medication in the world, and the scientific research has been outstanding. Our country also has freedom. Our national anthem ends with the home of the brave and land of the free, what that means to most people is pride, and caring. Which is why I'm proud of my country.

Another Bad Day for Alex

           It was a quiet day when a 16 year old, 6 foot 2 white male walked through the park. He walked down the street looking for a job when he saw the chocolate cake warehouse. As he walked in, they threw him out saying your kind isn't welcome here. Alex had nowhere to go besides his rock that he camped under for warmth in the winter. There was no good news for Alex.

Casey at the Bat

Would you be the bragger or the trash talker if you were the best? In the short story "Casey at the Bat" Casey is a very good baseball player, but his only problem is he knows it. He brags to his teammates and the other team about his talents. Then finally he steps up to the plate with runners in scoring position with two outs. It's either Casey is the hero, or Casey fails his team. As the first pitch went by Casey watches it as it's a strike. The next pitch went by as the umpire yelled "Strike two." Casey then had the fire in his eye, he was so mad he couldn't control his anger as the umpire yelled "Strike three."

In the story I noticed the Exposition of the story when there was a runner on first and third and Casey was up. It was then because that is when the characters were truly introduced and the problem was stated. The problem was they were losing and they needed to score. Not too long after that point the author wrote about the rising action. The rising action was when Casey stepped up to the plate. The rising action of a story is just when some good comes. When the hero makes a play or good has power over evil. It was when Casey came to the plate because Casey was one of the better players and they hoped he could save the day and win the ball game for them. That's when he was at the point where there was no return. Also known as the Climax. I noticed the Climax when Casey got frustrated and mad at himself. After strike two Casey got so mad he took himself out of the game mentally. He quit on his team which lost the game causing the falling action that happened right after and during the second pitch. I thought it was during the pitch as well because his mind set was so bad and his anger took himself out which started to go downhill very fast which is why it is the falling action.  

Papa's Parrot

Have you ever been lonely, felt unappreciated? In the short story "Papa's Parrot" by Cynthia Rylant, the father "Papa" had ran a candy shop with his son Harry for many years, well one day Harry decided the candy shop just wasn't good enough or cool enough for him. Harry then spent all of his time with his friends at school and at home. Papa then had nobody to hang out with at the shop, he was very sad and lonely. So after that he bought himself a parrot to keep him company, and it was then Papa's Parrot. Harry had no idea what kind of stress is father was going through at the shop. Then one day Harry's father had a heart attack, they had to rush him to the hospital in an ambulance. Harry meet up with his dad at the hospital and offered to run the shop until he would return, but what Harry didn't know was that the parrot knew his father almost better than Harry. Harry went to the shop the next day and saw the parrot, the parrot kept repeating the same things… Where's Harry, Where's Harry, I miss him, I miss him. Harry soon became annoyed and started to yell at the bird, but then Harry went to the ground in tears knowing that the bird was right his father needed him. So it's true even if they get mad at you, parents always want you around.  

Everybody might say there parents don't care, they nag too much. Well you might not know them as much as you think. In the short story "Papa's Parrot" by Cynthia Rylant Harry the son of Papa use to be the average kid who would hang out with his dad at the Candy shop, but now he's Mr.Cool as some would say, but what really happen is Harry has grown apart to hang out with his friends, but what Harry didn't know was how lonely his father actually was. Papa was so lonely he bought a parrot that became Papa's parent. That parrot ended up replacing Harry which made Harry realize what damage he was causing his father.

So have you ever felt that lonely feeling when something has replaced you? Harry didn't know the damage he was causing his father so when the parrot came in to papa's life it replaced Harry. That's the feeling of replacement, it's the same around the country in activities and hobbies. In a football game a starting quarterback could lose his job to the back up and never play again. Luckily Harry realized the sense of erg in his mind to know what became right and what became wrong to his father.

The short story "Papa's Parrot" by Cynthia Rylant had a very touching ending because of the fact that Harry's dad has gotten out of the hospital and Harry is working with his father again. His dad and his mom helped him through his whole life, getting him in school, getting him working with his dad, and showing him what loyalty truly means, so his parents gave him almost everything. Harry now has the best life that anybody would dream to wish for, having not much money and a dad with a heart attack the family had something that nobody else could have as much of besides there true loyalty and caring.      

Champs

Champs is a very good restaurant that I have gone to over the last few weeks. They make this one sandwich that I get every time because nobody else has it. The buffalo chicken sandwich, I like that sandwich because it has chicken which I love and it has warm rolls that it's on and I love the buffalo sauce.  Which makes the buffalo  chicken sandwich the best.

Living the Dream

Jamie a kid from the down town streets of Baltimore was raised by a single parent. His mom was working two jobs just to get enough money for a place to stay, but Jamie understood the situation, in order to stay with his friends and in Baltimore he knew his mom wasn't going to be around him the whole time. Jamie was only 14 years old and had an incredible talent and passion for the game of basketball. Jamie never had the money to buy a hoop or a basketball so he would play with a near by rock and lamp cover that he would find. Then Jamie was playing with his rock one day when a black shiny car pulled up next to him, a man asked him "Where is your mother". Jamie responded saying "I don't know", the person replied "Well why don't you hop in the car and we'll go find her". Jamie as only a 14 year old boy without much schooling went into the car, before he knew it he was kidnapped.

Jamie's mother arrived home later that evening with a lot of money, she was so excited she had got a raise and is making double the money, she hadn't found out that Jamie was kidnapped until she went to spread the good news with him. She called his name loud and many times "Jamie... Jamie.... Jamie", no response. She then went to look at where Jamie plays with his rock, she found his wallet laying on the ground with skid marks on the road. She then knew to call the police. When the police arrived the neighborhood was silent, not a word from anybody. They traced the finger prints and the skid marks and said it to her clearly, Mrs. Nelson your son has been kidnapped. Mrs.Nelson as she screamed and cried, asked how did this happen and to who? They replied I have no clue, but we will find this criminal by tomorrow. A moment later the Maryland u14 head basketball coach came by and asked if Nelson would be able to play next weekend for the team in a tournament. His mother replied in tears, "Nelson's missing... Help me I need him". The coach replied he has been kidnapped? Where to who? Mrs.Nelson replied I don't know just help me find him.

Next the cops just got a clue from a local bystander, the kidnappers are at a warehouse down the street. The cops and Mrs.Nelson jumped in the car to go and find Jamie. They heard Jamie crying and yelling "Mommy... Mommy, where are you" from outside. The cops broke down the door and ran in, they found Jamie in a closet tied  up with a huge puddle of tears. Jamie ran towards his mom saying "I'm sorry mom... I'm sorry... I'm sorry" his mother replied "Jamie it's okay... it was all my fault, I shouldn't of let you alone". They both were the happiest couple, then Mrs.Nelson told Jamie the great news, she told him about the basketball coach and they both jumped in excitement. Then she told him how she got the new raise so she would be home at noon everyday and only working one job. Jamie never felt better to hear that.

Finally all of Jamie's dreams came true for him and his mother, and he finally got to play the game he loved and having his mother live the happiest life ever. Jamie truly wished for nothing else, but for his family to be as happy as they are right now.  

The Young Fellow Drew

Once upon a time there was a young fellow named Drew. Drew was a happy little lad. He would hop around the city singing, but one day Drew noticed something. He looked in a dictionary and saw a word that he had never seen before… Rap- a new type of music style. Drew then studied up on rap until he understood what it was. Nobody else in the small city knew anything about Rap. Drew then had to spread the word.

At the next annual talent show, Drew entered and sang to his beloved beat in his new style of rap. Everyone loved Drew had invented the new style called Rap. Drew has saved the world from it's old 80's rock and bad country.

Travel Baseball

Now a lot of people think that there is only travel basketball which is AAU. Well they are wrong I play both AAU and and travel baseball and I am telling you that there is such thing. My travel team, the Wisconsin Rockhounds, travel all around the United States last year we traveled to Michigan for a tournament, and many more states. This year we are having a fundraiser to try to get enough money so we are able to down to Atlanta for this big tournament. I think travel baseball is just as fun as AAU as long as your team is good and your in a good tournament.

John wall

There is a rookie in the NBA named John Wall. John Wall is a rookie guard out of Kentucky. In the 2010 NBA draft John Wall was the first overall pick to the Washington Wizards, this year the Wizards didn't do so hot, but their future is in good shape with a young leader on the floor. John Wall is a very quick talented guard that is very young. With a young leader on the floor a franchise can go far, because you will be able to keep them for a while.

NBA playoffs

The National Basketball Association season is coming to an end. At the end of every year there is a big tournament called the playoffs. This part of the year is the most emotional and physical games of the year. Every team that made it to the playoffs played good in the year and was one of the top 16 teams to make it. As of right now there are only seven teams left and six of those seven teams are playing in a game 5 situation just to stay in the playoffs. So far my favorite team is in the playoffs still and about to defeat the Boston Celtics who have went to the finals three years in a row. 

Creative piece

                                                   Waukesha Blazers

My baseball team is called the Waukesha Blazers. This year my team might be one of the top in the whole entire league. I really enjoy playing baseball because some people might say its a lazy mans sport, but it's not. I enjoy the quick bursts of energy towards the ball. It's a big burst of energy because you have no idea what kind of hit the batters is going to hit. If its going to be a rocket or a short choppy ball up the middle.

I also enjoy baseball to play the games in the nice sun. I really enjoy basketball, but it's much different playing in the gym than outside. You are able to hang with your friends eating some peanuts and sunflower seeds, then when it's your turn to bat just go show them what you got. We have only played three games this year, but they have been some of the best games of my life.

GARBOLOGY By: Alex,Drew

he straw named Bob

Once upon a time there was a straw named bob he was a little straw. One day straw bought a beautiful car it was a sweet van. It went 0 to 60 in a half of a second. One day when bob was enjoying his car a mean knife came along and said give me my car or I'll cut you with these Sharpe band-aids.

No, no sir please don't. It's too late for that, that car belongs to me. "Oh yeah well you can’t handle the truth" said the straw. The Knife replied, "Oh yeah well I know your greatest fear I know how back in 99' at the carnival the interaction you had with the clown, and I know that's the only thing that scares you." "Oh yeah well I know what scares you, back in 98' I remember the toy truck explosion, ha didn’t see that one coming now did you Mr.Knife. "Oh yeah well I don’t think you’ve got talent nor do you have the power to pull it off."

So since knife and Straw are enemies they decided to settle this over the phone. Straw gave his business card to knife and they talked about this over the phone. When they were talking over the phone straw claimed that knife took his beloved hair clip and now is not giving it back. But knife is saying that straw stole his green beads and is not giving it back.So when they found out they had just lost those items they decided to forgive so now they were bracelets to symbolize their friendship.

Spring Assessment

How bad does he want it? In the story "The Hundredth Dove" by Jane Yolen the fowler Hugh must catch a hundred doves to bring to the King's wedding for the most beautiful women in the world. The king spoke once "Do not fail me Fowler" (Page 1). The fowler had the heart and the desire to keep moving on and help his fellow king have the best wedding he could have. The fowler had rough times by only catching ninety nine birds and having to catch the one bird, but the king had his trust he knew the fowler would come through. Which shows perfect friends have trust and desire.

The purpose of the story was to show that if you have trust and desire you can get through the tough times and make perfect friends. When the king was getting married he trusted the fowler to get what he wanted to make the perfect wedding. The fowler also ran into some troubles, when he caught the final dove, the dove tried to convince him to let him free. The fowler responded "I swear by the king whom I serve and by the lady who will be his queen that I will capture that bird" (page 3). The desire out of the fowler to not let his king down made him the perfect friend to throw the perfect wedding.

In the short story "The Hundredth Dove" the fowler helps throw the wedding for the king, weddings are a happy ceremony where to people get to share their love with each other for the rest of their life. The happy flying birds and the white dresses this was a happy occasion. The story was a very romantic comedy story because of the wedding and the birds flying around.

In the short story  "The hundredth Dove" there was suppose to be the most beautiful wedding ever, well overall water finds it own level. The loyalty from the fowler and from his queen was too much for the king. The dove ended up dying in the kitchen with a very sad ending, the end came to false loyalty. The false loyalty wasn't from his fowler, but only from his queen. The queen gently spoke "Master fowler, set me free, Gold and silver I'll give thee"   (page 3). It wasn't meant to be, in life love and loyalty only come from the heart and true meaning of what you came to search for and what you came to find.

In the short story “The hundredth Dove” trust was the word. Trust is the main factor to life; you can’t live without it, like the bond between the fowler and the king. The bond couldn’t be broken, to start something strong you must finish strong. The queen and the dove was no match for what they had for each other and will have until their trust has been broken which could be a while.   

Rickie Weeks

Rickie Weeks is a power hitting second basemen for the Milwaukee Brewers. Rickie Weeks over the last couple years has been playing for the Brewers and hitting Lead-Off. In the last couple years though Rickie has been hurt a couple times. He has been hit by a pitch in both wrists to have season ending surgery. Before his surgery though he was the brewers leader in runs and home runs. Most of the people are expecting big numbers out of Rickie this year as long as he stays healthy. 

Upcoming World Series

This baseball season has just begun. I have waited since the beginning of football season for baseball season to come. This year I am not sure who is going to win, last year was a shock with two teams that were at the bottom of the league, but this year might be the best in my book.  

Year of the Pitcher

In baseball people have talked about how it might be the Year of the Pitcher. They say it might be the Year of the pitcher because pitchers are starting to get very dominate to the game of baseball. In the past pitchers were considered very good if they were hitting 90mph, now pitchers are throwing high 90's and mid 90's with other pitches such as the change-up going down as low as low 80's or high 70's. As a batter that is very tough to hit because of the reaction time, you have about a second or less to decide to swing and if it's a good pitch, but if someone throws a 75mph change-up after throwing a mid 90's fastball it is very hard to adjust. When you are a batter you are successful if you were batting .300 batting .300 is only getting three hits out of ten, but those three hits are much harder now.

Authors note: This is a personal metaphor created in a class writing activity for practice.

I am a bee lying in the weeds.

I am a waiting puppy with anxious eyes.

I am the smell of baking bread.

I am a short, well built man. 

Sweet Lou

When does it get old? In the book Sweet Lou by Melissa Isaacson, Lou Piniella long time baseball star as a MVP, manager of the year has now found his passion for managing the Chicago Cubs to maybe their first World Series in more than a Century. The story starts out describing young Lou as a little boy always watching and dreaming to become the baseball superstar. Well in the book Lou's family wasn't exactly the wealthiest, they didn’t have much baseball equipment to practice with other than a glove and a ball, nor did they have much food or water. The family saved their scraps and managed to gather enough water from the near pond and food from their leftovers to live happy and to stay alive. Lou's father saw Lou's passion for baseball he realized that without baseball Lou wouldn’t do anything with his life. So his father practiced ever day with Lou to maybe perk up his spirits until he realized Lou needed an education, after about a couple years Lou got into college. With the tuff grades and baseball on his mind Lou was about to drop out of college, until he met his coach, his coach loved Lou he liked the way he hit and fielded. With the courage that his coach had provided him Lou ended up picking up his grades so he could play on the baseball team, which he ended up getting drafted to the MLB. What Lou did had inspired many people, what kept him going was his will power he wasn’t going to quit, which was the purpose of the story never stop trying.

The purpose to the story was to show that even though things might be tough, if you put in the work the results will come. When Lou was a young boy and his family wasn’t exactly the wealthiest, Lou realized that he's got to work to get to the life he wished to have for him and his family. Later on in the book it showed how Lou then fulfilled his dreams to become a baseball player then a manager. To get what you want you have to work which my family relates to.

In the book Sweet Lou there were a lot of times where my family could relate to him. With the purpose of the story being never quit, relates to my family because we never quit. When you quit at something it’s a sign of not improving, a sign that you're lazy. When your grandma comes to see you, then finds out your not what she wanted shame will find its own level. Therefore in the book Lou's very much wanted dreams was to grow up being like his grandfather, which was hardnosed in your face one hundred percent work ethic.

The book Sweet Lou had a very touching ending because the fact that Lou has grown up. His parent helped him through his whole life getting him into college and some education, also giving him the great dream and joy for the game of baseball. With not much money to even get food on the table Lou still got the love for the game, which is what most people would love to have someday.