blog 3

  Hello once more Solonites. I am still reading Any Given Sunday by Robert Huizenga. I have read to chapter 15 and it has been very interesting.

           Well, a lot of things have happened since my last post. The medical staff finds that legend QB Cap Rooney is probably out for the season, but could be back for the playoffs if the team even makes it. The team is pretty discouraged heading into the next game, and finds it even worse when they head into halftime down by twenty-one. Coach D'amato  decides to replace the struggling Tyler Cherrubini with Willie Beamen, who had some good plays the game before. Beamen plays amazing and gets the team back in the game. The coach calls a running play Beamen disagrees with, and the Sharks lose yards on it. Beamen proceeds on the following possesion to change a play, to a successful play that gains a first down. Coach D'amato is furious. Beamen continues to play well until the final possesion when the Sharks are down four with two minutes left. Beamen again changes D'amato's play to a pass, which scores the game winning touchdown. D'amato screams at Beamen, who is oblivious to his harassment. The Sharks win and Beamen looks like a hero. Julian Washington,  the teams star running back, however, complains to the coach about the lack of run plays called. This leads to a big argument between him and offensive coordinator, Coach Crozier, who liked Willie Beamen's style of play rather than the plays D'amato wanted Crozier to use. D'amato eventually breaks up the argument, and the team proceeds to the after party. Team owner,  Christina Magniacci, is in attendance as well as the mayor. It is revealed that Magniacci wants to move the team if they do not get more money from the city of Miami. Meanwhile, to the dismay of his girlfriend of five years, Willie, very conceited, does not introduce her to any celebrities or people he meets, and generally ignoring her. They get in a big fight at their apartment, where Willie calls her a gold digger and she calls him some names that I will not say because I go to church. This argument and break up shows how conceited Willie is.

                The next game will clinch a playoff spot for the Sharks. Their opponent, the LA Knights, are a very good team however. Beamen again plays well but is starting to get on the nerves of his teammates as he calls more and more pass plays. The game is close, but it looks like the Knights have it with forty-five seconds left and the Sharks on their own twenty yard line. Beamen must throw a hail marry. The pass is perfect and hits the receiver about seventy yards downfield, who runs in for a touchdown. Willie Beamen looks like Tim Tebow mixed with Jeremy Lin, as far as a big deal. He is told to arrive at coach D'amato's house after the game. The two talk before the conversation becomes heated when D'amato brings up the changing of the plays. He tells Beamen he will never be a legend like Lombardi and other stars if he doesn't become a team player. He then reveals that Cap Rooney will be back and starting by playoff time. Beamen then gets very angry and accuses D'amato of being racist and a sellout. The two start a yelling match that ends in Beamen storming out. That night, at the party, the angry Beamen, talking to Julian Washington, says that the reason the game had to be so close was because the defense didn't do their job and if they did they would be one of the best teams in the IFL. Washington defends the defense, to which Beamen accuses him of only playing for himself and reveals that Washington has a one million dollar paycheck as well as advertisement campaign with Reebok waiting if he got a thousand yards in the season. This makes Washington so mad, he tells Defense captain Luther "Shark" Lavay about Willie's defense comment. Shark is so furious, he gets a chainsaw and literally cuts Beamens Jeep in half. The Jeep is symbolism, as the team has been cut in half, as there is lots of hatred. That is where i stopped reading.

               I think that this book is very good, as it is an underdog story, and I tend to like conceited characters because the ones that just keep to themselves are boring. So far, this has been a very good book.

               I think the author wrote this to show that what the public sees is often different than reality. Willie Beamen seems like a hero and a great guy in the public eye, but his teammates hate.

               The theme is everything is not what it seems. A seemingly heroic player who is hated by his teammates, a successful team that is actually falling apart, all support this theme.

                My favorite character is Willie Beamen. He is very cocky, but he is very cool. He took a team from bad to great. He is portrayed as a somewhat villain, but he always says what he thinks, he doesn't try to make things look better just so people would like him, he says the truth, or his version of it.

                 My favorite quotation is from Willie Beamen when talking with Coach D'amato. The coach says he will never be a Lombardi or a Sammie Ball or Dan Marino. Beamen then says, " You know, when I look at those pictures on the wall it just makes me sad. It's like a room full of ghosts. When I'm done with the game or the game's done with me, I want to be more than just a picture on a wall. I want to be more than that." It is definatly a great quote.

                 A few questions I have is how will the Beamen vs. Rooney starting battle work out and can the team overcome this adversity.

                      ® Owen Sherman and Associates™ is the owner of all content contained in this document. Any recreation of any way of this document without the expressed written consent of Owen Sherman and Associates™ is strictly prohibited. Violators subject to fine.

Owens second blog post

          Hello once more Solonites. I am still reading Any Given Sunday by Robert Huizenga. I have read to chapter fifteen and it has gotten very interesting.

           Well, a lot of things have happened since my last post. The medical staff finds that legend QB Cap Rooney is probably out for the season, but could be back for the playoffs if the team even makes it. The team is pretty discouraged heading into the next game, and finds it even worse when they head into halftime down by twenty-one. Coach D'amato  decides to replace the struggling Tyler Cherrubini with Willie Beamen, who had some good plays the game before. Beamen plays amazing and gets the team back in the game. The coach calls a running play Beamen disagrees with, and the Sharks lose yards on it. Beamen proceeds on the following possesion to change a play, to a successful play that gains a first down. Coach D'amato is furious. Beamen continues to play well until the final possesion when the Sharks are down four with two minutes left. Beamen again changes D'amato's play to a pass, which scores the game winning touchdown. D'amato screams at Beamen, who is oblivious to his harassment. The Sharks win and Beamen looks like a hero. Julian Washington,  the teams star running back, however, complains to the coach about the lack of run plays called. This leads to a big argument between him and offensive coordinator, Coach Crozier, who liked Willie Beamen's style of play rather than the plays D'amato wanted Crozier to use. D'amato eventually breaks up the argument, and the team proceeds to the after party. Team owner,  Christina Magniacci, is in attendance as well as the mayor. It is revealed that Magniacci wants to move the team if they do not get more money from the city of Miami. Meanwhile, to the dismay of his girlfriend of five years, Willie, very conceited, does not introduce her to any celebrities or people he meets, and generally ignoring her. They get in a big fight at their apartment, where Willie calls her a gold digger and she calls him some names that I will not say because I go to church. This argument and break up shows how conceited Willie is.

                The next game will clinch a playoff spot for the Sharks. Their opponent, the LA Knights, are a very good team however. Beamen again plays well but is starting to get on the nerves of his teammates as he calls more and more pass plays. The game is close, but it looks like the Knights have it with forty-five seconds left and the Sharks on their own twenty yard line. Beamen must throw a hail marry. The pass is perfect and hits the receiver about seventy yards downfield, who runs in for a touchdown. Willie Beamen looks like Tim Tebow mixed with Jeremy Lin, as far as a big deal. He is told to arrive at coach D'amato's house after the game. The two talk before the conversation becomes heated when D'amato brings up the changing of the plays. He tells Beamen he will never be a legend like Lombardi and other stars if he doesn't become a team player. He then reveals that Cap Rooney will be back and starting by playoff time. Beamen then gets very angry and accuses D'amato of being racist and a sellout. The two start a yelling match that ends in Beamen storming out. That night, at the party, the angry Beamen, talking to Julian Washington, says that the reason the game had to be so close was because the defense didn't do their job and if they did they would be one of the best teams in the IFL. Washington defends the defense, to which Beamen accuses him of only playing for himself and reveals that Washington has a one million dollar paycheck as well as advertisement campaign with Reebok waiting if he got a thousand yards in the season. This makes Washington so mad, he tells Defense captain Luther "Shark" Lavay about Willie's defense comment. Shark is so furious, he gets a chainsaw and literally cuts Beamens Jeep in half. The Jeep is symbolism, as the team has been cut in half, as there is lots of hatred. That is where i stopped reading.

               I think that this book is very good, as it is an underdog story, and I tend to like conceited characters because the ones that just keep to themselves are boring. So far, this has been a very good book.

               I think the author wrote this to show that what the public sees is often different than reality. Willie Beamen seems like a hero and a great guy in the public eye, but his teammates hate.

               The theme is everything is not what it seems. A seemingly heroic player who is hated by his teammates, a successful team that is actually falling apart, all support this theme.

                My favorite character is Willie Beamen. He is very cocky, but he is very cool. He took a team from bad to great. He is portrayed as a somewhat villain, but he always says what he thinks, he doesn't try to make things look better just so people would like him, he says the truth, or his version of it.

                 My favorite quotation is from Willie Beamen when talking with Coach D'amato. The coach says he will never be a Lombardi or a Sammie Ball or Dan Marino. Beamen then says, " You know, when I look at those pictures on the wall it just makes me sad. It's like a room full of ghosts. When I'm done with the game or the game's done with me, I want to be more than just a picture on a wall. I want to be more than that." It is definatly a great quote.

                 A few questions I have is how will the Beamen vs. Rooney starting battle work out and can the team overcome this adversity.

                      ® Owen Sherman and Associates™ is the owner of all content contained in this document. Any recreation of any way of this document without the expressed written consent of Owen Sherman and Associates™ is strictly prohibited. Violators subject to fine.

Kolby Melsha blog 3 quarter 2

I just finished Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne. Last blog they were on a train heading to Omaha. On the way though they were attacked by some Indians and it caused a massive fight. Two of them were taken as prisoners. So Phileas Fogg and some volunteers go out to rescue them. As they are in search for the prisoners the train restarts and leaves without them. This makes it so they won't be able to make it back to London in time.  Then this man has a home-made vehicle that can travel across the plains and in a straight line to Omaha where they may meet the train going to New York. When they made it to New York they had just missed the train by thirty minutes. So then Mr. Fogg finds a freight who is accepting them to travel to England. On the trip then Mr. Fogg takes control of the ship and heads towards his destination instead. When they reach English territory Detective Fix arrests Phileas. Then while sitting in his jail cell Fix tells him he can go because the real thief was already arrested while they were traveling around the world. When they reached London they were five minutes late. This puts Mr. Fogg into a a deep depression. Then as Passepartout is looking for a priest to marry Aouda and Phileas he realizes that they had gained a day because they had traveled around the world. He then won the bet and the prize money and married Aouda.
      I really liked the book because it picked-up the whole book. My favorite part is when they realized that they had actually made it all the way around the world in seventy-nine days, but were at home the whole day before they realized it. I think the reason that Jules Verne wrote this book is to so how being calm and patient can always have benefits. Like how Phileas was always calm and he was side tracked a lot, but instead of making rash decisions that could have jeopardize his mission. A theme in this book could be the advancement of travel technology. Like how they have come from a horse and buggies to trains and steam boats.
      My favorite character in the book is Phileas Fogg because he is always so calm and patient. I really did not think any of the quotes are good.


Melsha, Kolby

I am reading the book Ethan Frome. This book is written by Edith Wharton. I am on chapter seven. So far in the book the reader has met the three main characters: Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie. Ethan and Zeena are a married couple living on a farm in Starkfield Massachusetts. Mattie is Zeena's cousin living with them to do the housework that Zeena can't do because she is very sick. During her stay Ethan and Mattie discover they have chemistry between them. Neither of them can express their feelings because Ethan is an older married man and Mattie is Zeena's younger cousin. When Zeenas heath gets worse she decides to travel into a larger town and see a doctor. This is the first time Mattie and Ethan will be alone for a night. They have a nice dinner and normal conversation during the evening. Nothing happens between the two because they both know it would be wrong. When Zeena returns home she says the doctors orders were to get a hired girl so that Zeena doesn't have to do a thing around the house. They both know they can't afford to keep both girls so Mattie has to go.  Ethan, of course, does not want Mattie to leave and tries his best to keep her around.

I didn't like this book at first, but now I enjoy reading this book. Its different and unique making it interesting to read. There is some suspense which makes the reader want to keep reading to see what is going to happen. I think the author wrote this book because she enjoyed telling a story of hidden love and romance. The theme of this book is happenstance. Ethan and his wife, Zeena, got married when Ethan's mother died and Zeena was to take care of the housework. They got along fine, but it was more so a marriage of coincidence and not because they loved each other. A quote that went along with this idea is: "I'm obliged to you, but I guess I'll go along back." This is like what happened to Zeena and Ethan. When Zeena was living with Ethan and his mother, caring for her because she was very sick, Ethan and Zeena knew it was right thing to get married when Ethan's mother passed. I think the best character is Ethan. He is struggling with balancing his duty to his wife and his love for Mattie. He does his best to have things remain normal, but he eventually lets his feelings get the best of him. As readers we see how he deals with the problems he is facing. I have no questions about my book. 

Blog post #3- The Last Song- Reed McCarty

     I have now finished reading The Last Song! I absolutley loved it! I recommend anyone to read it. Nicholas Sparks is an amazing author.
     I had last stopped at chapter 20, which was as far as I had read last time. After the whole wedding incident, Will couldn't take anymore of Marcus's crap..so Will drove down to the beach with Ronnie, very furious at the time. He walked down to the beach where him and his buddy's were drinking. Will goes after Marcus and one by one he knocks them all to the ground. Ronnie now, did not want to see that, she was taken back by the way Will fought them.
     A couple days passed and Ronnie and Will had became closer, but soon summer was ending. And eventually they'd be going their own seperate ways. With Will going off to Vanderbilt, which is in Tennessee and Ronnie, heading back to New York to attend Julliard. Will promised her they will never seperate, and always try to be and stay together. Things might change but they'll always be with one and other.
     Behind Ronnies house, which is on the beach, there's a turtle nest which she and Will have been watching over. The turtles are finally starting to hatch and they soon will be off into the world!
      Ronnies father, who has some very bad health problems has started to get weaker, and you can tell by the way he coughs. She needs to help him and spend as much time as she can with him. The doctor told him he won't have much time left and she's worried because after so many years this summer was the first she's talked to him in a long time. Each and every day he becomes weaker.
      The days are getting shorter and so is the summer coming to an end, and Will and Ronnie are starting to face the reality that things won't be easy between them. As weeks pass, Will starts packing up his things. While Ronnie stays close to her dad.
       The time has come when Steve is at the end..he's became so weak he can barely do anything at all. Ronnie's feeling more and more depressed and with Will leaving things won't be any easier. One day Steve was sitting out on the porch in his rocking chair...Ronnie was getting him some lemonade, she came back out and he had died right then and there. It was so tradgic and she didn't know what else to do except cry her heart out. Will had already left, and Ronnie was without him. They had started losing a connection and finally lost hope. Will and her will never be together.
      Her fathers funeral was coming up, it was being held at the church, the same church that the stain glassed window was being installed at. Ronnie decided in memory of him that she play a peice of his music. Suprisingly when it ended and they were gathering outside the church, she spotted Will. She stared at him, and he starred back at her hoping she'd come back to him. Ronnie started tearing up, and she ran into Will's arms. He hugged her and held her so tight he didn't want to let her go. He missed her, and loved her. And so did she.
      I loved this book sooooo much! There's so much going on and I love the romance between Will and Ronnie.
     I think one reason why he wrote this book is to show how love is blinding, and relationships aren't always the easiest. He knows how to pull the reader in and make you want more. Their very inspiring and realistic.
     One thing Nicholas Sparks probably wanted you to take away from the book is that sometimes you can be betrayed, hurt and often lied too. Having something special to you is important, and you should always take that for granted. The main theme though is forgiveness, always forgive cause you never know when you will see them again.
     Personally I still think Will is the best character, Ronnie should be very lucky to have him. He has a big heart and a great personality. He's the type of guy and girl would die to be with.
    "Life, he realized, was much like a song." This is meaning that in the beginning there is a mystery, in the end there is comfirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worth while.
    LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!

The Last Song By Reed McCarty Blog Post #2

            I am still reading The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. He is known for his romantic-love books. I love reading his books.
           I had read from chapter 9 too chapter 20, and a lot has happened in between. Jonah, her brother, and her dad Steve have still been working on their stain glassed window for the new built church they attend. Her dad's health hasn't been very good over the years and he gets tired easily, so for Jonah to be very young and energetic it's hard for him to keep up with him! But he does his best.
         Blaze, who is Ronnies so called "friend," got her in trouble by stealing Cd's from a store, but it turns out Marcus ( Blazes boyfriend) told her to do that to get Ronnie in trouble. Because Marcus likes Ronnie but she doesn't like him back cause she has Will. So Blaze puts those Cd's in her bag and Ronnie gets caught and has to go to court and stuff. She ends up getting out of that mess and Blaze was not accused either.
       A big event comes up! Will's sister is getting married. And will invited Ronnie to come with him. Now, Will's mom doesn't really like Ronnie and thinks she's not the right girl for Will, but he really loves her so he wants her too come. And Ronnie does go, but the wedding doesn't end up like it should. Marcus shows up. He's wanting to cause and stir up trouble (him and Will don't get along), when Will and Ronnie are walking around out by the docks of the back of his house (where the wedding is being held) Marcus comes up to them and sleazily talks to them. He's up to no good as they can tell. In the end he ends up pulling the strings to the tent which comes crashing down on the whole wedding party and guests. This doesn't settle well with Will's mom, and she blames it on Ronnie. She has his dad drive her home, and she told Will's dad to tell him that she doesn't want to see Will anymore and their done.
     The next day, Ronnie gets a visit from Will's sister. She came by to tell Ronnie how upset and depressed he has been lately. He has a big Volleyball tournament today with Scott and they need to make it to the finals, and he's not been on his A-game. His sister asks her if she really truly loves Will, and she of course said yes. She's convinced that she needs Will and he needs her so she goes down to the Volleyball tournament to see him. Except Will isn't so stoked to see her, he turns away, but she runs up to him and gives him a big hug and kiss and tells him that she loves him with all her heart. And to play his very best today, and that she'll be watching.
     Will does GREAT the rest of the day, until something takes a turn for the worse. At the dock Marcus and her are there playing with fireballs and he purposefully puts gasoline on her shirt so that she gets caught on fire. Will rushes to the occasion and takes her to the hospital with Ronnie. They wait for a response from the doctors, they said she will be okay just some severe burns.
     I am lovvvinnggg the book still! I can't stop reading it! There's so much going on and I love the romance between Will and Ronnie.
     I think one reason why he wrote this book is to show how love is blinding, and relationships aren't always the easiest. He knows how to pull the reader in and make you want more. Their very inspiring and realistic.
     One thing Nicholas Sparks probably wanted you to take away from the book is that sometimes you can be betrayed, hurt and often lied too. Having something special to you is important, and you should always take that for granted. The main theme though is forgiveness, always forgive cause you never know when you will see them again.
     Personally I still think Will is the best character, Ronnie should be very lucky to have him. He has a big heart and a great personality. He's the type of guy and girl would die to be with.
      "He pulled her close and kissed her beneath a blanket of stars, wondering how on earth he'd been lucky enough to find her."- I like this quote, because you can really tell how in to Ronnie, Will is. And he said he wondered how on earth he'd been lucky enough to find her....obviously saying that Will is more than in love with her.
       I have no other questions about the book! I love it!

Kurt Blankenheim~Blog Post 3~The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Kurt Blankenheim

Ms. Nielsen

English 9 (1)

12 May 2012

©        ®    ™

        Hola once again Solon Spartans! Here again for my last blog on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It may seem like I'm doing my blog really early, but it was because this weekend I had read A LOT! Sadly this will be my last blog for the year, so I hope to all of you readers have a good Summer this year! So, I obviously left off on chapter eight, then finished through the whole rest of the book.  The book had got a lot better as I continued to read! Once again the author of this book is Louis Stevenson. The setting is in London, England. This book was written in 1885 and is still very mysterious!  I never knew what was going to happen next. It is all a big mystery! This murderer case was very strange (as in the title.) On some things that I was predicting was going to happen I would be right, but some wrong as well. But sometimes Stevenson would give foreshadows of what might happen. And finally after being curious so much about who the assassin was, I finally know! I kept on thinking next chapter the author will tell me but he finally did in chapter 10! The very last chapter in the novel! This story was filled with lots of suspicion and finally gave me a relief when I figured out who did the crime! A VERY good book!
           The protagonist  is Henry Jekyll. He is a doctor, and everyone enjoys him. He likes to do many experiments. There's also Mr. Utterson who is a strong lawyer. Then there's Mr. Edward who is a very weird man who is always mean and violent. Based on knowing that about this character I have a feeling that he might be a "murderer." There's Mr. Enfield who is the cousin of Mr. Utterson. Then lastly there is Dr. Lanyon who is also another doctor. She used to be one of Jekyll's best friends but has become an antagonist because of jealousy. So where I left off was when Dr. Jekyll mysteriously and rapidly slammed the window and ran inside his house. This left Mr. Enfield and Mr. Utterson curious of Dr. Jekyll about the case. So in chapter eight, the scene starts with Mr. Poole, (Jekyll's butler) going to dinner with Mr. Utterson. Mr. Utterson claims to Poole that there's been a lot of "Foul Play" going on with Dr. Jekyll. The supper then ends, and Mr. Poole offers to take him to Dr. Jekyll's house, and Mr. Utterson accepts this offer. So when they arrive they walk in to the main hallway, and there's Dr. Jekyll's servants all over the place! And all of a sudden, Mr. Utterson hears a sound from another room and the man says "No visitors are allows here!" However this man isn't Jekyll, it is the owner of the fine place. Utterson and Mr. Poole quickly run way out of sight from the man, and wonder if this man could be the potential murderer, and is planning to kill them next! However, then soon realize this man is actually Mr. Hyde! With the possible danger that they could possibly be in, Mr. Utterson quickly requests to Enfield to break into his lab for safety. The person says once again to leave him alone, but Poole told them yes we need to break in! So the the first thing they see when they walk into the lab is Mr. Hyde's dead body on the ground! Next to his body there was a smashed vial of some kinda of chemical. It seems as though this might have been a suicide? However, Mr. Poole made a good point when he said that Hyde's dead body was wearing Dr. Jekyll's coat and that it looked huge on him! It made no sense why would he have someone Else's coat? They try and look around for more evidence, but they couldn't find a thing! Except a note written out for Mr. Utterson from Dr. Jekyll. This envelop contains: the first note that Jekyll was going to send originally, another note dated present day of the text, and the last note was telling Utterson to read some letter that Lanyon had sent to him and do it quickly. This is how the chapter ends and still leaves readers in even more suspense and makes them wonder what's to now come even next? I totally don't get why Mr. Hyde was wearing that jacket still! That makes me want to know what's going on so bad! It will be interesting to see what happens.
          So chapter nine obviously starts off with Mr. Utterson reading Dr. Lanyon's letter. This note was talking about Dr. Jekyll's lab and that Jekyll told him to take something out of a  cabinet and take it and hide it somewhere. Its just a mystery to Mr. Utterson to as what it could possibly be. So Lanyon did what was asked and went into Jekyll's lab and pulled out some kind of vial that was a red liquid. I think this could possibly be related to Mr. Hyde's death. However, he also found his notes about experiments he has done, but he doesn't know if it is related or not. So he went home and took the vial with him. At the strike of midnight Mr. Hyde shows up and asks for the vial. He was described "very nervous and excited." Lanyon didn't really know him so he tried to talk with him but he cut it short and again asked for the vial. So he finally handed it over and immediately added some kind of purple ingredient which turned it to some weird green color. Why the heck did he do this? So as soon as he is done mixing the liquids together he asks Dr. Lanyon if he wants to be a "witness." However, Lanyon is clueless on what Mr. Hyde means by this! He's wondering what's there to witness? But Lanyon just says sure. So Mr. Hyde takes a huge drink and immediately turns into Dr. Jekyll and replaces himself. It was like a potion that switched lives! So weird but cool! So now Mr. Hyde is Jekyll, and Jekyll is Hyde! And even though the readers and Utterson want to know even more unfortunately the letter ends there. I don't get why he would want to do this! And where does he even get all of these potions in the first place? I'm so anxious to learn more in the next and last chapter of the book!
         So chapter ten is called "Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case." Sadly this is the last chapter in the book, however, it is still probably thee most important part in the book! I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen after all of that! This chapter has a very long speech by Henry Jekyll, and would basically be considered a soliloquy. So just as in the title of the chapter it is Dr. Jekyll's statement about the murder case. He basically can't take it anymore and admits that he was the assassin! Everyone was kinda in shock mode because they all thought it was going Hyde! I even thought he was innocent! But its Jekyll! He tells everyone he bought a huge supply of liquids to make a potion. This potion he drank, turned him into Hyde. When he was Hyde, he couldn't control his behavior he claims. So he says when he was Hyde he did commit the crime. he told everyone the reason he wanted to try out this experiment was to get know what Hyde was like and try to cure his violence problems, however it obviously failed because he couldn't control it and killed someone! He says he's really sorry for what he did, and never meant to cause this much harm to the town. He didn't mean to kill Sir Carew that's just who he saw one night when he was in a bad mood, while being Hyde. So that's why Hyde was wearing Jekyll's coat because of this switch! I can't believe this Innocent man turned bad because of this potion and seemingly randomly killed some guy! That's basically how this story ends, by the huge speech of Jekyll pleading guilty! However Stevenson taught us a big lesson: don't try to be someone you aren't. Meaning like leave other people alone and worry about yourself, or you'll get into trouble! Now obviously we don't have a potion to transfer lives, but it can still be a good use as in our everyday typical lives. it was a very interesting story! I think the ending the part I just read, was the best part in the whole book! I thought that was a cool way to end the book. Stevenson teaches young people lessons to get ready for the real world. Such as: how to make friends and keep them, be yourself, and learning more about crime. And he ties all of this nicely at the end of Dr. Jekyll's very long talk to the people! I hope the readers enjoyed reading my blogs, and influences you to read it! I know I definitely liked it and will try to use these themes in my real life in the real world!
        So yes I did like this book a lot. It is a really cool mystery and very mysterious. It was always interesting to see what happened next! It is a very interesting story! I thought that Mr. Hyde would end up being the murderer. But in the the end it actually surprised me when it was Henry (Dr.) Jekyll! I think the author wrote this book to teach readers more about crime scenes and how to solve them. I think that he wanted to inspire the readers of the book to become like involved with crime scenes when they get older. I think the best character I like is Dr. Jekyll because of the relationship between him and Dr. Lanyon. It was always a huge mystery for me because of their recent arguments. I was always wondering about him and what was going to be his role in the book. He hadn't done much yet, until the very last chapter when he talked a lot about him and the murder case. So I'm glad I got to hear more from him! Even though I hoped he would help solve the crime or do something heroic, it ended up being himself! At the beginning he didn't say much or talk with anyone besides Dr. Lanyon, but he now has already changed by not being friends with Dr. Lanyon and starting to talk with Mr. Utterson more. There might be a good relationship. That's probably also why the author wrote this book to teach kids to have more friends. That's the biggest theme so far is trying to make friends and keep them. The author communicated this well throughout he book! Good lessons can be taught in books!
             When reading the book, I felt like I still needed to know more about Mr. Hyde. So I went back to reread to see what he was like. I thought it was important to reread so I could fully understand who the possible murderer is. I mostly forgot what he looked like, so I found this awesome quote that describes all about him: “He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.”  This quote was said by Mr. Enfield who saw him one night out his window. This now gave me a way better understanding of this man and why he might look like an assassin. I think that based on that quote that makes him very creepy and scary! I hope that gives you a better understanding of who this man was and why I thought he was going to be the murderer. A few questions I would still have about this novel so far would be one how come everyone in this book suspected Mr. Hyde and basically no one ever thought it was Dr. Jekyll until the very end? Another is why would someone want to kill a man of the Parliament? Then why did Dr. Jekyll just get more involved in the story? I wish these questions could have been answered by unfortunately the novel is over! The book just kept getting better and better! What an amazing book! I would definitely recommend everyone to read this book! I could reread this book and I would still love it! It is just one of those books! So yes this is my last blog so I hope you all have a good Summer and get reading!

                                                                                                                 ~posted via Blackberry

Ordinary people blog 2

I am reading Ordinary People by Judith Guest. I am about halfway to 3/4 the way through the book and I am starting to kind of like this book even tho it isnt my usual kind of reading. So what has gone on is that Conrad has left the swim team once again because it reminds him too much of his dead brother Buck who died in a sailing accident. Conrad has attempted to commit suicide by cutting his wrists with razors because he thinks that the death of his brother is his fault and that he should take his brothers place where he should be dead and his brother should be alive. He is in a phsyciatric hospital and after being in there for 8 months he was released to the open world once again."A good thing you do not have to know who you are, Jarrett, in order to perform, because today there is a minimum of information available on that subject."  

Blog 2 Inside Out Maren Clemsen

I am currently reading the book Inside Out, by Terry Trueman. I have read into the seventh chapter. So far in the book I am reading the main boy Zach is mentally disabled and he is caught up in a stressful situation. Zach is caught in a hostage held at a local coffee shop. It all started when two boys came in yelling for money armed. A pedestrian from outside the shop saw what was going on and called to police for help. In panic mode the two boys turned the robbery into keeping hostages held up in the coffee shop as Zach is one of them. The problem is Zach cannot get his medication he needs for his schizophrenia to have the voices in his head, Dirtbag and Rat away, which are excessively telling Zach bad things about himself and to commit suicide. The hostages are keeping the 12 hostages held up in the coffee shop as multiple police cars are surrounding the place. Zach is suffering with the voices and the extra stress added to the situation of the hostage. I think this book is really good because it pulls the reader's attention in and is very suspenseful. I'm guessing the author wrote this book because he must have had some past history with robberies or schizophrenia. The big idea the author is trying to portray is to show how much everyone is suffering in this situation and especially Zach with his disabilities. The best character is Zach because yet he is mentally disabled he also is very smart. He has grown very much from the incident because it has taught him to remain calm and control the voices occurring in his head. "You suck, go die. Your worthless. Dirtbag and Rat are bag and I can't control it, it's getting worse. I need my medication." This passage is from the book stated by Zach. I chose this passage because it shows Zach's struggles and what he has to deal with. The questions i have after reading this book are, Does Zach make it out alive from the coffee shop? and will the buglers go to jail or get away with the crime?

Kurt Blankenheim~Blog Post 2~The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Kurt Blankenheim

Ms. Nielsen

English 9 (1)

3 May 2012

©        ®    ™

             Hola! Kurt Blankenheim here again for my second blog on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I have now read from where I left off which was chapter five, thru chapter seven. The book has really been getting a lot better as I have continued to read! Once again the author of this book is Louis Stevenson. The setting is in London, England. This book was written in 1885 and is still very mysterious!  I never know what is going to happen next. It is all a big mystery. I'm pretty sure there will still have to be something big going on with this very weird murderer case.  I don't know for sure but there are plenty of things that are foreshadowing what might come. It still bothers me about who is the murderer because the novel still hasn't told me yet! But since its just now getting into the next few parts I'm hoping to find out who is the murderer and why they wanted to do it. Hopefully the book keeps on getting even more suspicious!

           The protagonist  is Henry Jekyll. He is a doctor, and everyone enjoys him. He likes to do many experiments. There's also Mr. Utterson who is a strong lawyer. Then there's Mr. Edward who is a very weird man who is always mean and violent. Based on knowing that about this character I have a feeling that he might be a "murderer." There's Mr. Enfield who is the cousin of Mr. Utterson. Then lastly there is Dr. Lanyon who is also another doctor. She used to be one of Jekyll's best friends but has become an antagonist because of jealousy.  So where I left off was when the murder had just taken place. The only witness was this maid working at a house and saw just a little of what was going on. She couldn't tell for sure because is was about two o'clock in the morning. That's why she was the only witness she had to do her job as a maid at night while the people of that house were sleeping. She thinks she just might know who the man is. She describes him as being "evil, aged, small, and aggressive." She soon realizes that it is most likely Mr. Hyde. She knows him by seeing him from around town before and says that it was him! However, she has no clue who the victim was. So the police come, and they identify the body as Sir Danvers Carew, who is a member of the England Parliament. they also find a letter that says "To Mr. Utterson." But when Mr. Utterson arrives at the scene he is filled with shock. He doesn't understand why he would murder a man of the parliament when Hyde told him it was going to be Dr. Jekyll. He still is surprised! The police then talk with the maid about it probably being Mr. Hyde as the murderer. So the police then decide to visit Mr. Hyde's house. Mr. Hyde acts like he has no idea what has been going on. The only sign of him possibly being a murderer that the police found was a murder-weapon in his checkbook. So  with so little evidence the police know where his bank account is, so they assume that if he is the murderer he will have to go to the bank soon, because that's where he left his weapon, in his checkbook. Then what I just now have been getting to is starting off all about Mr. Utterson. The narrator keeps on mentioning how much Mr. Utterson wants to know about this murderer case. I think he's going to have a very important role in the next few chapters, because the author values this character very high. He quickly blames Dr. Jekyll for the assassination and believes he had planned it all out. He kinda becomes this A.K.A. detective and wants to find out more between the relationship between Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll to see what they have in common, and who's more likely to commit the crime. So Mr. Utterson becomes very annoyed that he doesn't know who has done this crime. He starts getting really confused and doesn't know who to blame anymore. So one day he decides to go to bed, except that night he had major nightmares telling him that Hyde was the assassin. In his terrible dream he had pictured the setting in London, England (his home town) and saw Mr. Hyde completely killing everyone he sees. Mr. hyde was going insane in this dream! Hyde has been killing hundreds of lives and was committing the worse terrorist attacks imaginable! Mr. Utterson finally awakes in huge relief! When he does wake up,it soon gives him a second thought about Mr. Hyde being the murderer. He soon starts to realize how much power Hyde has and how he has the means to do it. However, he is still really confused to on who's to blame. So Mr. Utterson still wants to know more so he talks with some people of the town about Mr. Hyde and his relationship with Dr. Jekyll. He soon discovers that there isn't really any too much of any relationship. He describes their relationship as being fast and short talk with one another. They don't wish to talk or see each other longer than they have to, unless it is business talk. This soon angers Mr. Utterson even more because yet at the end of chapter five he still isn't able to find out who commited this crime, and it still remains as a mystery, but with more clues.
            As chapter six begins, there still is no citation of Mr. Hyde anywhere in the town. As Mr. Hyde starts to loose his face in the town, the complete opposite starts for Dr. Jekyll. He now is coming out and is always now willing to talk with every person in town and meet new people. Dr. Jekyll came out of now where and now is extremely optimistic! A couple months later, Dr. Jekyll decides to host another one of these dinner parties, however this time with only his two old friends Dr. Lanyon and Mr. Utterson. This really surprised me that this situation would come up, especially Mr. Utterson, who's dying to know everything! However, nothing from Mr. Utterson ever comes up about the murderer, even though he really wanted to ask. So a few days goes by, and Mr. Utterson decides to telephone Dr. Jekyll. The phone rings and rings and finally Mr. Poole (Dr. Jekyll's butler) picks up. Poole tells Mr. Utterson that Dr. Jekyll wishes not to speak to any visitors. Mr Utterson now has second thoughts this time about Dr. Jekyll now, as to why he wouldn't want to talk with anyone. This made me think that this story is getting even better because right when I think I know who did it, something else comes up again! I honestly don't know who I think committed this crime now! So about a week later the same thing happens again, except this time Mr. Utterson decides to go to Dr. Lanyon's house, since she was a very old friend of Dr. Jekyll. When he finds Dr. Laynon in his house, he is VERY ill and looks like a complete mess! He soon tells Mr. Utterson he doesn't wish to talk long, because he's expected to die with in a matter of weeks. However, he does tell Mr. Utterson that Dr. Jekyll is also becoming very sick as well. So this makes me wonder if that was really the reason why Dr. Jekyll couldn't talk or if he was lying. He claims he won't tell Utterson anything because he's "supposed to know after his own death." I think this makes no sense at all! How is he going to know who and why this person did this assassination after Dr. Lanyon dies soon? So Dr. Lanyon demands him to leave after giving him all of that information. So immediately when Mr. Utterson gets home, he can't take it anymore he has to find out what's wrong with Dr. Jekyll. It is kinda a battle right now against Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll as to who committed it. Utterson asks in the letter addressed to Dr. Jekyll: "Why didn't you wwant to talk with me on the phone?" He also asks: "What ever happened to his relationship with Dr. Lanyon and why he doesnt like him anymore?"  Surprisingly, Dr. Jekyll does reply quickly stating that he still care about Dr. Lanyon and everyone in the town just as much. However, possibly one of the most important statements made by him was: "I no longer wish to see or talk with anyone for the rest of my life." This caught me dumbfounded because thats a huge piece of evidence for making Dr. Jekyll the logic suspect! utterson just can't get anymore confused! He keeps on getting more upset by the page! However, just as Lanyon said that he would die soon, he does about a week later. Probably thee most important part of this novel so far had just happened that day. Mr Utterson had found this letter Dr. Lanyon had left him, when he was to die. It soon made sense! That's the name of the chapter! However, Mr. Utterson hasn't opened the envelope because he wants to read it in privacy in a week or so by himself. As the week goes on he tries once again to call Dr. Jekyll but this time over and over again not even the butler will pick up. I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter and if Mr. Utterson ends up reading the note! It sounds so exciting to know! I can't even imagine what that letter could possibly say!
           In this very short chapter, chapter seven is still a very important chapter in this book! The chapter starts off as Mr. Enfield and Mr. Utterson taking a walk in town and talking about the murder case. They both come to an agreement that they both think it is most likely to be Mr. Hyde. They soon walk past Dr. Jekyll's house and peek in thru the windows. For some strange reason they find Dr. Jekyll on the other side of the window! Jekyll tells the two men that he isn't feeling well. But they invite Dr. Jekyll to join their walk with them. However, Dr. Jekyll tells them he can't, and that he cannot be leaving his house. This is very, very, very mysterious! The chapter the ends by Dr. Jekyll quickly slamming the window shut and runs off into his house and is never again seen in the chapter. This creates a new talk for Utterson and Enfield because it was quite spooky when he just all of sudden he just ran off into the middle of no where! I think that was the most creepiest part in this novel because I for sure didn't see that coming at all! It will be interesting to see where this takes the story in the last three chapters!
              So yes I do like this book so far. It is a really cool mystery and very mysterious. It will be interesting to see what happens next! It is a very interesting story! I think that Mr. Hyde will probably end up being the murderer. I think the author wrote this book to teach readers more about crime scenes and how to solve them. I think that he wanted to inspire the readers of the book to become like involved with crime scenes when they get older. I think the best character I like is Dr. Jekyll because of the relationship between him and Dr. Lanyon. It is still a huge mystery because of their recent arguments. I'm still wondering about him and what is going to be his role in the book. He hasn't done much yet, but everyone is talking about him so he must become important at some point. I hope he will help solve the crime or do something heroic! At the beginning he didn't say much or talk with anyone besides Dr. Lanyon, but he now has already changed by not being friends with Dr. Lanyon and starting to talk with Mr. Utterson more. There might be a good relationship. That's probably also why the author wrote this book to teach kids to have more friends. That's the biggest theme so far is trying to make friends and keep them.
             When reading the book, I felt like I still needed to know more about Mr. Hyde. So I went back to reread to see what he was like. I thought it was important to reread so I could fully understand who the possible murderer is. I mostly forgot what he looked like, so I found this awesome quote that describes all about him: “He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.”  

This quote was said by Mr. Enfield who saw him one night out his window. This now gave me a way better understanding of this man and why he might look like an assassin. I think that based on that quote that makes him very creepy and scary! I hope that gives you a better understanding of who the possible murderer could be. A few questions I would still have about this novel so far would be one who is the murderer? Another is why would someone want to kill a man of the Parliament? Then when is Dr. Jekyll going to get more involved in the story? I hope all of these questions get answered soon so I get to know more about the book! This book just keeps getting better and better! I'm now going to go back and start reading again until next time..............
                                                                                                         ~posted via Blackberry

Kolby_Melsha Blog 2

I'm reading the book "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne.I am on page 157 of 210. When I talked about the characters last  they were on a elephant on their way to Calcutta. When they  reached Calcutta they met and added a new member to their group, her name is Aouda. She is a Indian women who has refused to be in an arranged marriage, so Phileas Fogg saved her. Then they headed to Bombay and Passepartout, Mr. Fogg's servant, got into some trouble with some priests. In Hong Kong the detective following them around had drugged Passepart so he couldn't tell Mr. Fogg that the ship to Yokohama. So then they miss the ship and somehow Passepartout makes it on the ship and is on his way.  In Yokohama Phileas and Aouda finds Passepartout as a clown. They get back on the ship together as a group and head off on a long journey to the United States. Where I stopped reading they were all boarding the train from San Fransisco to New York City. 
       To me this book is getting better and better as I read. I think that the stories pace will pick up even more is because the book has gotten better and batter and the writer would not just stop making it better. A reason I think the author wrote this book to show how many different cultures there are in the world and how much different they are. Like how some places their is pretty much only one type of people like in India, but in Japan their is all cultures of people from all parts of the world. A theme to this book could be traveling and the technology of the late 1800's. An example of the technology is they all had to go by either train or ship unlike taking an airplane in today's world.
       My favorite character is Phileas Fogg. He is always calm. Even when things are at their worst he never reacts in anger. Everyday of the trip though he seems to get a little bit more excited because he is right on time for his calculations. To me all the quotes are good so it is hard to choose. My only question is if they are  going to make it in time.


Kolby Melsha

Jack's 2nd post

Hola fellow Spartans. I'm back for my 2nd blog post for this quarter. If you have not yet read my first post the book that i have choose to read is Julius Caesar by none other then William Shakespeare him self. After leaving you guys last time I had ended at Act II scene I.
  So I shall start from where I left off. Julius is found walking around his room being kept up from sleeping because of his wife's nightmares about his murder. So he sends for a priest to give a sacrifice. Calpurnia now advises that Caesar does not leave his palace. Caesar replies by saying nothing can change the mind of the gods. The servant sent to get the priest returns and says the priest advises he stays inside. But even that doesn't change his mind in thinking he is safe. Decius comes in to get Caesar for the senate meeting but instead he decides to stay home.
     In the next scene we read Caesar has decided to meet the council on the streets that night. The group then quickly enters the Senate because they fear the killer is watching them. To start off the meeting Metellus request his brother be back allowed in Rome but Julius denies it. others come up to plea his come back and as Julius says his lasts words he is killed. Trebonius quickly comes in and says Antony say fled. a message from Antony comes in saying even though he respects Caesar he would prefer to be ruled under Metellus's brother. Now that Julius is dead his brother is ruler and so Antony request that he may speak at Caesar's funeral. and it is excepted. Instead in the end of the scene Julius's son is appointed ruler.
  In the next scene the funeral goes as plan. Then a poet named Cinna walks threw the streets and is killed because he is mistaken to be the man who had predicted the death of Caesar .

That is all the farther I have read so far and I think that the book so far is a very good book but considering its in the form of a play it can be hard to read. My Favorite quote in this part is "Et tu, Brute?" because it is the last words said in the book by Caesar . And my question is how will Rome be ran?

I am reading the book Ethan Frome. This book it by Edith Wharton. I am on chapter five. So far the author has introduced the readers to the main characters Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie. Zeena is the wife of Ethan and they live with no children on Ethan's farm and mill. They met when Ethan's mother was ill and Zenna came to tend to her. After she passed, Zenna stayed and married Ethan. When Zenna became ill, her cousin Mattie Silver came to help take care of her. Ethan started having feelings for Mattie during her stay at their house. Ethan keeps his feelings for Mattie a secret so that Zenna doesn't discover what is happening. At this point in the book Zenna has just left to get help for her pain, and Ethan is left home with Mattie.

I think this book is okay. I think it's a little weird but in general not a bad book. At times it is difficult to understand exactly what is happening. I think that the author wrote this book to tell a story of secret love. The theme of the book is mystery and secrecy. Neither Mattie nor Ethan can reveal their true feelings and they don't know what will happen in the future. Both Ethan and Mattie know that their feelings are not morally correct, yet they can't change the way they feel. The best character is Mattie. She probably the most mysterious character and she is learning a lot while staying with Ethan and Zenna.

"He used to think that fifty years sounded like a long time to live together, but now it seemed to him that they might pass in a flash." This shows how short life is and how a person shouldn't have regrets and should take chances. This applies to his feelings for Mattie. I have no questions so far.