Sniping His Way Into History

U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle holds the record for most career sniper kills in United States military history. Serving for 10 years, he has a recorded 150+ kills, beating the previous record which was 109. In addition, he set a personal record which was a 2,100 yard kill shot while stationed in Baghdad. Chris Kyle signed up to be part of the US Navy after what happened on September 11th, 2001. He wanted the people who caused 9/11 to pay for all the damage and deaths cause by this attack.

Known as "the devil" to the Iraqi people, Chris Kyle did not write this book to show off his amazing skills as a Navy Seal Sniper. He wrote this book to give them a perspective of what war is really like, and how it can affect not only your life, but the lives of many others, plus he demonstrates acts of courage and confidence to show us how to implement these ideas into our own lives.

Just like with Steve Jobs' and Sir Alex Ferguson's biographies, I learned something form reading the life-long story of Chris Kyle. The most important thing I learned was teamwork. As he described, "The Air Force, Marines, and Navy... We had enough confidence in them that we could call in strikes just down the block." (Kyle 167). As shown, it was very important for Chris Kyle to be able to make sure everyone was doing what they were suppose to be doing, and to a sufficient level. When working on a group project, you can easily compare Chris's situation with mine. You have to have enough confidence in your group that they can all do a little bit of the project, and combine all the parts together later. 

Also, this book reminded me of a previous book I have blogged about; 'Lone Survivor'.  Marcus Luttrel and Chris Kyle both described these events in their lives as if you were standing right next to them on the battlefield. In coherence, both of these books gave me a sense of the most elite groups in the military. Getting into the military is a goal of mine, therefore these books have always fascinated me and always will.

Ironically, Chris Kyle was killed on American soil. As my father stated. being the best sniper the world's ever seen, and having a $20,000 bounty on you 24/7, the fact that you are killed by an ex-marine on American soil is both ironic, and disappointing. 3 years later the trials are just starting to see if the killer is guilty or not.

In conclusion, Chris Kyle will always be a role model of what you can accomplish in life, regardless of the boundaries you face.  

The Innocent Man: John Grisham

As we are coming close to the end of the 2014-2015 school year, there are gonna be tests flying everywhere. Homework, projects worth 1/2 of your overall grade. So, I thought that I would get a book that would help me take my mind of off things and relax. And what better book than a true story about a man who was arrested for something he didn't do, sent to court and found guilty for something he didn't do and sent to a Death Row. Sounds fun.

I found this book in my dad's bookshelf and he said he liked it because it isn't one of those books you find in any bookstore or library. Before John Grisham started righting books, he was a lawyer and his inspiration for his first novel was because of a court case he heard. The Innocent Man was his first non-fiction book and is one of his most successful. I hope to start reading it and enjoy to further give my opinions on the novel in a latter blog-post.

Changing It Up A Bit

For this week's blog, I decided to change things up a bit and write a column like we did earlier. This one will be sort of a list about advice for teens / high school.

The High School Life

Always have headphones: You never know when you want to tune out.

Best friends are valuable: In times where you need help on homework, now you have someone to call. 

Chargers: After using your phone all day, this is a must. 

Decisions: They can make or brake your date. 

Entertaining: What high school isn't. 

Fun: What high school isn't. 

Grades: What everyone worries about.

How?: The common question in a math class.

IPhone: The phone 99% of teenagers have. 

Junior: The grade before senior.

Kissing: What you see in the hallways.

Languages: ¿De que estas hablando?

Motivation: What we all need a ton of. 

Nope: What you say when you see how much homework you have. 

Omg: What you say when you see how much homework you have. 

Patience: What teachers need to survive.

Quadratics: (See how?)

Really?: The question that comes to your mind when you see the first question on a test you didn't study for. 

Shutdown: Zzzzzzz. 

Test: You fail this, you fail the class (See Really?)

Upset: The feeling on a Monday. 

Victory: When you finish your homework or wina sport. 

Waste: 1/2 of the people here waste their time doing nothing. 

Xerox: What you want to do to an answer key to a test.  

YOLO: The answer to everything. 

Zoo: Alternative name for High School. 

Narrative Prompt; Fahrenheit 451

Writing Prompt: After listening to the reading of "Dover Beach" by Montag, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles leave the house. Write a continuation of the story using details from the passage. Describe what you think might happen in either Mrs. Phelps or Mrs. Bowles' life after she leaves. What actions might she take next?

After Montag kicked us out of his house, I tried to comfort Mrs. Phelps and she told me, "I have never heard anything like that before... it was to much for me."

I left her at her house and headed for mine. As I shut the door behind me I thought to myself, 'Why would a fireman read a book? Montag must be crazy.' I was extremely annoyed at Montag and wondered why he read that poem to us. After all, poetry is pointless since it makes people upset for no reason. So why did people write poems?

"Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain." My mind froze. I looked into the mirror and saw tears instead of joy. I decided to call the fire department and tell them what happened.

"Hello, fire department... yes you will not believe what just happened." I cursed the poem and everything Montag had done today. I took some sleeping pills, unaware of how many I was taking at a time and laid down on my bed. My life flashed all at once in front of me and I fell into a deep sleep.

Column Thoughts

In Freshman H. English, we are starting the columnist unit. Mrs. Bross has been talking about this last unit for literally all year so it has to be good right?

Over the weekend we had to read 6 columns, all about very different topics. My favorite was arguably "Winter Olympics: When USA hockey team beat Soviets in 1980, we knew it would last forever." by Mike Lupica. This was my favorite one because it, in my opinion, sent out the most powerful message. This plays in part to where the author talks about the 'American Spirit' or the 'American Dream' mainly in sports. but not only does the topic of the 'American Spirit' or the 'American Dream' but also in everything else having to do with America. Let me explain. The most evident example is the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. After this horrible event, America came together as one to try and fix the problem, just like the US Hockey team did in the 1980 Olympics against the Soviets.

My least favorite one probably has to be "What will Kate Middleton's wedding dress look like?" by Robin Givhan. Honestly, I found nothing interesting about this column. I don't know if it is because of the fact that I am a guy and I don't find the topic of wedding dresses very interesting, or if it is something else. But honestly, I found nothing interesting about his column and it took me a while to concentrate and read it. (I feel like a critic now).

All in all, I can't wait for this unit and hopefully it is as good as Mrs. Bross has described it.

Fahrenheit 451 Theme

Individual Self-Expression is Important

Alexander Amaya, Lauren Thomas, Alexis Branscum, Courtney Cavallo & Rachel Stapleton

Bell 3

Quotes

• “They want to know what I do with all my time. I tell them that I sit and think. I won’t tell them what.” (Bradbury 20)

• “After all, when we had all the books we needed, we still insisted on finding the highest cliff to jump off of. But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what fools we are.” (Bradbury 86)

• “We never burned right…” (Bradbury 113)

Individual self-expression is important to our understanding of the story because we’re able to identify characterization throughout the story as well as understand the different point of views between the multiple characters.

Individual self-expression in our society today plays a major role in helping people get their ideas everywhere to help change the world in a positive way. It is important for us to study and be aware of this theme so that this is made possible.

Timeline

• Montag’s encounter with Clarisse.

• Woman refusing to leave her burning house.

• Faber’s conversation with Montag.

• Montag’s final scene with Beatty.

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Before I start, if you have never heard of "TED Talks" then I want you to stop reading this and go over to http://www.ted.com/ and listen to probably one of the best short presentations you will ever see. If you have seen or heard of "TED Talks", then you know what I am talking about.

A problem with many teenagers these days is that they give attitude or argue to their parents about pretty much anything. It can go from the fact that they want to stay up later, hang out with their friends, or if they want the newest iPhone for their birthday. 

I'm going to be honest when I say that I for one, have a serious issue with this. My mom one day told me, "You know what would be the best job for you... a lawyer." And that is where the idea was born. 

During our snow week, I had absolutely nothing to do being that I did not want to walk out into the negative temperatures. So, my dad offered me this book, "Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds." Knowing the other books that I have blogged about, this wasn't up my alley. Yet, I picked it up and start reading. The author, Carmine Gallo, uses different speeches, aka short talks, to explain his 9 "secrets" on giving good speeches and presentations. For example, he talks about giving good attention grabbers and how to keep the audience engaged into the presentation. One of the most important points he made was, "You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost." (Gallo 181). This does not only apply to public speaking though. In life, you have to be happy and "courageous" about what you are doing. If you aren't satisfied with what you are doing, whatever if it is, do something about it.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Unique, being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. Stereotype, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

During the past four days I read two books that are kind of similar. They were Wonder by R.J. Palacio, and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. In a way, they were both about stereotypes, with The Outsiders making it a more evident theme.

In The Outsiders there are 2 stereotypical groups, the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are the rich kids who don't have to work for anything and the Greasers are the poorer kids who don't have much. In our world, stereotypes play a part in life while in The Outsiders it is the core theme combining with all of the teenage struggles they are dealing with.

On the contrary, August in Wonder has his different "teenage struggles" that he has to deal with. He starts off the book by saying, "If I found a magic lamp and I could have 1 wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and doing that look-away thing." (Palacio 3) Usually, when someone's one and only wish is to be ordinary, you know they are anything but that. In August's case, he was born with a facial deformity and has gone through a countless number of surgeries.

But what is the connection between these two books?