Thursday, December 5, 2013

literature analysis #2

1. In Roald Dahl’s book “Going Solo” it tells his shocking story through world war 2. It all started when Roald was 22 and was sailing to africa from London. It was a two week journey at that time. The next time he would see his family would be when he is 25. He was going to a place in africa called Dar es Salaam where he would work his first job for the shell oil. Once at Dar es Salaam he encountered many crazy adventures like saving a persons life. It all started when he was shaving in the bathroom and looked out the bathroom window and saw a black mamba that was extremely poisonous. He warned salimu, one of their servants, about it and saw that it was right behind him. It was clear that salimu had experience with snakes as he stayed still and calm. He then saw the snake getting close and he smacked it with a rake and put all his weight on the rake so it wouldn't escape. As Roald ran down naked with a gold club to help, salimu had broken the snakes back. As soon as war had started against Germany, Roald was ordered to leave his job and became a temporary Army officer. His first order was to round up all the German civilians, mostly shopkeepers, in the area and put them in an internment camp. While doing this task Roald killed one german, but in the end the task was accomplished, The German women and children were allowed to return to their homes instead of the camp. In November 1939, Roald decided to join the Royal Air Force. He flew the Tiger Moth, Gloster Gladiator and Hawker Hurricane. He became the last allie that flew out of greece as germany had taken over. He was later sent back to England as soon as he got headaches and started blacking out while managing planes.

2. The theme of this book wasn't really clear to me but if i had to pick i would chose self discovery and exploration as he got to know the real him while exploring different parts of the world. He discovered things he was capable of doing to other humans during world war 2.

3. The main reason why I chose this book was because i need to read a book for ssr. But as i continued reading i got really into it. It was about world war 2, and that really made me keep on reading. I was also really curios about what Roald Dahl had experienced during his time of serving in the war.

4. I found this book very realistic since it was an autobiography. I didn't really connect with Roald because I haven’t really left united states except to go to mexico. Another reason why not is because i haven’t been in war.

5. The authors tone throughout the book was very full of emotion as he had sad parts and very chilling parts as well.

6. “Salimu! Salimu! Angalia nyoka kubwa! Nyuma wewe! Upesi upesi!” That means “Salimu! Salimu! Beware huge snake! Behind you ! Quickly quickly! “ in Swahili. I think the author was trying to gain the servants trust by saving his life. (27)

Characterisation

3. The protagonist would be a dynamic character because he went through a lot of changes such as emotional changes and physical as well. When he was a pilot he use to black out and that changed his life.

4. After reading this book I honestly feel like if i was in ww2 with Roald Dahl and aboard the planes he was the pilot of.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

In Ali Khan's article entitled "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse" he states that surviving a zombie apocalypse is much like surviving a natural disaster but in some ways different. Khan says you'll need a emergency kit. Food, water, medication, tools and stuff of that nature. Its also important to carry important documents with you and to have identification with you as well. Khan says that that is not long term survival, that's just for the first couple of days to get you to a zombie free refugee camp. The author next proceeds to show that emergency planning is a must. He says you should pick at least two meeting plans for your group. One at your house or close to your house and the other further away like out of town maybe. Also have your evacuation route planned out ahead of time. Finally, the author argues that the CDC is prepared of any situation including a zombie apocalypse. The CDC will be ready to assist anyone in need and to provide technical assistance as well. They will also do there best to separate the infected from the non infected people. " If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease out break". (Khan)

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Sociology of Leopard Man

Most of society isn’t comfortable with people who get tattoos, piercings or with people who dye their hair or style it different ways than “normal” people. Those people are known as nonconformists. In Logan Fey’s article “The sociology of leopard man” he says “Society tends to discourage people from expressing their unique ideas and behaving in ways that are different from their peers. “ I agree with that author and his statement that people do treat other people different if they act or appear different.

In Logan Fey’s article, he argues that people with tattoos, piercings or extraordinary hair does all the things to them for attention.  I would disagree with his statement because I think people dress that way so they can express themselves and most importantly because they feel like it. There is nothing wrong with people who dress different from the rest. I think people shouldn’t judge people based on their look or how they dress.

In paragraph five he states “Pop psychologists reassure the masses that abnormal people suffer from psychological disorders.”  I would disagree with this statement as well. I don’t believe that people with abnormal physical appearance or personalities suffer from any disorders or diseases. You should just let people be themselves without thinking they have a disorder.

Logan Feys says “Such people are desperate for society’s attention.” I would somewhat agree with him. I do believe some people are desperate for society’s attention.  Some would go to such lengths for the approval of society which in my opinion is not all that important.  I believe someone should not wait to be approved by society and just be themselves.


Logan said “Society tends to discourage people from expressing their unique ideas and behaving in ways that are different from their peers.” I agree with him but not entirely. Not everyone changes to impress society or to get an opinion from another person. I wait for a day not close enough for people not to judge one another over their appearance. 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Five ways to improve your running stamina

Brayan Gamez
October 21,2013
Block 3
Five ways to improve your running stamina
1. Choose the right shoes
The first and most obvious one is shoes. You have to have the correct shoes to run. Preferably Nike or Adidas or shoes of that nature. If you pick shoes that are not appropriate for running then you’ll will feel pain sooner or later.

2. Warm up properly
Warming up properly is a big deal. Make sure to warm up properly before every run. It will reduce the chances of you getting injured. Your should walk or jog  the first 5 minutes then stretch to reduces stiffness.

3. Run long and slow
In an article I read Finke believes marathoners should focus on consistent, easy paced training runs that help them build endurance without getting hurt every couple of months. “A lot of runners train too hard, get injured, and never reach their potential”. Hes saying run long distances but don't sprint them, stay at an easy pace throughout your run. But however running fast and long distances does work for some people as well.

4. Run at least 3 times a week
If you are just starting to run, 3 times a week is a good amount since you are allowing your body to adapt to running more frequently. You want to make sure you don't over train as you burly start your endurance training because your body won’t be fit enough and won’t have enough time to adapt between runs.

5. Nutrition
Nutrition is a very important step in improving your stamina. When you train you burn calories, and if you eat correctly you will have enough energy to complete your run. If you don't eat right
you will feel lethargic and you won’t gain as much benefit from your training. You also need food and protein to rebuild your muscles after they are damaged during your training.

Works Cited
"5 Ways To Increase Your Running Stamina." Homemade by Jaci. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

"Boost Your Endurance in 7 Simple Steps." Active.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

"Improving Endurance – 5 Top Tips." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Friday, October 18, 2013

My favorite mistake

When I was a little kid, I got a new bike. Well it wasn’t new since it was from the swap meet but it was new to me and I felt like the happiest kid alive when I got the new bike. The bike was dark blue and had rusty parts. But I didn’t care. It was the same after noon my parents bought me my bike when the accident happened. I was riding my bike like a normal kid would do when they got a bike. It was a great experience as I was only 7 years old. I could feel the wind hit my face and it felt great. Until I encountered a push pin standing straight up as if someone had placed it there.
I thought to myself “I should probably pick this up before a car pops their tire” (I was 7 I didn’t realize that that was impossible for a push pin that size).
I did a full on U turn to pick up the pin because I was worried about what would if I didn’t pick it up and something happened knowing that I could of prevented it from happening. So me being a good person that I am I picked up the push pick, not knowing that would happen would be a great mistake. I did a full on U turn to pick up the push pin and I put my left foot down to scrap the ground to gain more balance but I was going too fast and instead of a U turn I did a circle and lost control of the bike and fell into a ditch about 3 ft deep. Luckily the ditch didn’t have water. My dad was outside with me keeping an eye on me but he was talking to his friend outside at the moment I fell and came up to me as soon as I started to cry. My dad came up to me and picked me up as I was tangled with the handle bars and the frame of the bike. I could taste the dirt in my mouth as dirt had entered my mouth as my face was against the ground. My dad helped me up and walked me to my mom as I wiped the tears and dirt off my face. Moms usually know what to do in a time like that. My mom put alcohol on my cuts to prevent them from getting infected and then put band aids on me. I felt better knowing my mom would cure me. I learned from that experience that you can’t prevent everything from happening. 

Friday, October 4, 2013

Literature Analysis

In the non-fiction book by Washington post reporter Bob Woodward he takes us to a journey through Bushes thoughts during the war in Iraq. This is the 4th book out of Bush at War series by Bob Woodward. Bob Woodward talked for hours to officials of the federal government. He spent 3 hours talking to George W. Bush in the Oval office. The book states that on June 13, 2006, 6 years into Bush's presidency and 3 years into the Iranian war, Bush flew to Baghdad over night very secretive to meet up with the prime minister of Iraq. But first he stepped aside to talk to the Army General George W. Casey JR. the 57 year old commander of 150,000 U.S forces in the country. Most military members came in and out rarely staying in Iraq for more than a year: however, Casey remained constant seeing it all and try to find a way to end and understand the crazy war in the crazy land. Finally good news stuck as U.S armed forced killed Abu Musab al zarqawi, the man osama bin laden declared the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq.

The theme of this book is violence can solve some problems. When U.S forces killed Abu Musab al zarqawi  the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheading in Iraq the al Qaeda group got demoralized.

I'd say the tone of the author when writing is book would be upset towards president Bush. Bob Woodward says "The president must lead. For years, time and again, President Bush has displayed impatience, bravado and unsettling personal certainty about his decisions. The results has to often been impulsiveness and carelessness and perhaps most troubling, a delayed reaction to realities and advise that run counter his gut"
The symbol for this book would be the generals. The generals where the strategist of the war; however Bush refused the generals orders and was impatient. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Antigone compare\contrast

Some people do anything for a family member. In the tragic play Antigone, by Sophocles, one sister would do anything to bury the brother she loves. She encounters pain, solitude, and eventually death. She opposes Creon, the ruler of Thebus, who won’t allow the burial of her brother Polyneices. The conflict between Antigone and Creon are the results of both their similarities and their differences.

Everyone has their differences. In Antigone, Creon and Antigone have quite a few. Antigone is very loyal to her family and would do about anything for them. As she said, “Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way” (scene 1, line 36). She is saying nothing is going to stop her from buying her brother. Antigone is also loyal to the gods. In scene four Antigone explains to Creon how the gods know what she did is a good deed. Creon however, is the opposite of Antigone. Unlike Antigone, Creon is loyal to the state. He says “Such a man is the very worst of men and will be, and a man who thinks more highly of a friend than of his country, well he means nothing to me “. That indicates that his country is more important that his friends or his family. In scene five when Teiresias tells him he has to bury Polyneices and free Antigone or he would pay flesh of his own flesh, as stated my Teiresias, Creon was to late causing the death of two of his family members.

Creon and Antigone do however, have some similarities. One of those similarities is pride. Antigone takes pride in burring her brother and states, “I do, I deny nothing “(scene 2, line 59) to Creon when Creon asked her if she was the one who buried Polyneices, her brother.  That line proves that Antigone takes no shame in breaking the law and is not afraid of the consequences. In scene two when Antigone is talking to Creon, she doesn't have any regret in doing what she did. Antigone is not the only one who has pride. Creon says, “You will give no support to whoever breaks this law”. That shows he will punish who ever opposes his law. In scene three he tells the blind prophet, Teiresias that no matter what he says nothing is going to change his fate. In other words, he doesn't believe him.


Both Antigone and Creon are to blame for this tragic occurrence. Creon was to stubborn and hubris to be proven wrong by a women, he always wanted to be right no matter what. He also put his laws before the gods and his family. Antigone is also to blame because she went against the laws of Creon and if she still wanted to go against the law, she should have been more secretive about it.   That’s how their conflict brought the death to 3 people: Antigone, Haymen son of Creon, and Eurydice wife of Creon. These are the differences and similarities between Antigone and Creon.  

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Monkey's Paw


  1.   If you had three wishes, what would they be?  Why?  (No wishing for more wishes.)  Explain each response.   If I had three wishes I would wish for the power to teleport so I can teleport my self to places without riding a car for hours. My second wish would be the remote from the movie "click" so i can fast forward, pause, and rewind so I can rewind when I mess up or when I forgot to do something and the same for fast forward so I can use it when i'm bored in class or something like that. My third and final wish is to master any skill in less than 1 day. This would would come in handy when I go to the real world and need a job that requires a lot of skill such as an architect.
  2.    Is there anything that you are superstitious about?  Explain.  (If not, explain why not.)                           Yes because I wouldn't trust the person granting the wish because they always seem to turn your wish against you.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Vocabulary #6

1. World war 3 is inevitable.
2. I have a phobia of potato bugs
3. My sister secludes herself from my parents at school.
4. My brothers always rebuke me in public.
5. Hitler is notorious for world war 2.
6. My mom fluctuates clothes a lot.
7. Presidents are suppose to be candid.
8. My sister is sophomoric.

Vocabulary #5

1. I marched to my room plaintively.
2. Floyd Mayweather likes to flaunt his cars and money.
3. i was distraught when my dog died.
4.There was a queue at the new store.
5. I accrued some weight over summer.
6. Money is not very relentless.
7. I am very leery of my dog.
8. My cousin is very crass towards adults.

Vocab Definitions 1-5


#1
Debunk (Prove something false)
Imminent (about to happen)
Affluent (wealthy)
Routine(ordinary, normal)
Benign (harmless)
Enlighten (to teach something new)
Malevolent (evil)
Inquire (to ask)
#2
Perplexing (confusing)
Resilient (tough/determined)
Amend (to fix/to change)
Fickle (indecisive)
Benevolent (good)
Desist (stop doing something)
Listless (tired/lazy)
Lackluster (not impressive)
#3
Dwindle (to reduce in number or amount)
Subtle (not obvious)
Gullible (willing to believe anything)
Erratic (unpredictable)
Condescending (conceited/talking down to someone)
Aspire (to seek to become or achieve)
Pristine (untouched/in perfect condition)
Nettle (to annoy or bother)
#4
Hapless (unlucky)
Scrutinize (To look closely)
Domicile (home)
Clarify (to explain more clearly)
Asinine (stupid/idiotic)
Infer (to figure out without being told)
Eloquent (well-spoken)
Strife (conflict)

#5
Plaintive (Very sad)
Flaunt (to show something off)
Distraught (emotionally upset)
Queue (a line of people or things)
Accrue (to gather over time)
Relentless (never stopping)
Leery (untrusting)
Crass (rude/vulgar/having bad manners)

Passion blog

One of my many passions is skating. I’ve been skating for about 5 months now and it’s so much fun. Skating is a really great escape if you’re mad or just stressed out about homework (blog) or something like that. It’s a sign of freedom and no worries when you feel that cold wind hit your face while riding fast. Unless you hit a death pebble then you’re pretty much out of luck. But other than that, it feels amazing.
Once you get comfortable riding your skateboard around you start to learn tricks. The ollie is one of first tricks you learn do and a foundation for the other tricks. Once you learn the ollie and can do it almost all the time, you can ollie over big cracks, curbs, down stairs, and gap stuff. When you ollie over something or land a flip trick you feel like you can do anything. You might even feel like you can do something crazy which you probably can’t and will most likely end up breaking a bone or something of that nature, but you don’t really care because you’re in the “zone”.
Another one of my passions is soccer. I’ve played soccer since I was in 5th grade I believe. It all started when my dad signed me up for a league without telling me. I’ve never even touched a soccer ball before and he expected me to play? But I have, however, watched soccer on TV every once in a while and knew some things about it. Also my older brothers taught me over time how to be a better player and defender. I played right side defender for a team called Santos that my dad ended up coaching. He became couch because all the people came to him when we first started our soccer team. Over time I really came to love soccer. I’m actually really glad he signed me up.

Brayan’s Autobiography

Greetings! My name is Brayan Gamez Robles, my life before high school was a bit calm and mellow. I mean sure, my life had its ups and downs but I regret nothing. Before high school I attended Fesler Jr. High. I met a lot of new friends there. And some people that I will never forget. So before high school I use to actually get good grades in 7th grade, but for some strange reason in 8th grade everything seemed to go uphill from there.
During high school I found some interesting hobbies I never knew I would like, such as skating. I enjoy skating and have been doing it for about five months now. I skate mostly everyday and I also did that every day of summer vacation. Another hobby I found was handball. Well, I played handball since 7th grade but it’s still fun to play. And I taught myself how to play the piano over summer to.
After high school I don’t really know what to do with my life. If I still don’t have an idea of what to do by the time I graduate, I’m going to attend Hancock for one year and then go to the Marines like my brother. The reason why I plan on doing one year at Hancock then going to boot camp is because after boot camp you become a private first class which means you get paid more because you attended college. After serving four years in the Marines I might server four more and after that, I might become a cop. The main reason why I think about joining the Marines is because they travel a lot and that’s something I plan on doing later on in my life. But for now, I feel like don’t have to worry about all that. All I have to worry about is finishing this assignment before midnight.