Outside Reading Book- Week 5- Post B

Throughout this section of reading, a new lead in the Skell case has been discovered. With help from the kidnapping case of Shannon Dockery, Carpenter discovered were pictures had been taken of Shannon and her father Tram Dockery at a fast food chain. These pictures were taken when they ordered from the drive thru. The orders had been taken from a company who took orders from multiple fast food places around the state. With these pictures the owner of the company finds his new victims for kidnapping cases or murders. Jack and FBI agents have linked the owner Paul Coffen to Simon Skell and the other men in the kidnappings. They are going to go talk to Paul Coffen and see if he will give up the location of Melinda who is still alive, but being held hostage in somebody’s closet.

Outside Reading Book- Week 5- Post A

One emerging theme in the book is loneliness, because Jack Carpenter does not have any friends in the book, and is divorced.
"I'd found him"(235). Jack Carpenter has identified the another person in the group of killers. This is leading to the finding of Melinda, who is still alive.

Outside Reading Book- Week 4- Post B

‘”Skell may have won this battle, but he won’t win the war’” (172). While Jack Carpenter was in Tampa, the police charged Ernesto for the murder of Carmella Lopez. The murder that Simon Skell went to prison for, so Simon Skell and his lawyer are in the process of getting Skell out of Jail. Jack has found a new lead in the old case that might still give them enough evidence to keep Skell in jail. Carpenter is now investigating this lead on Nash Bash, who he believes is associated with Skell and the killings. Along with two other people that help Bash and Skell torture and murder women. Bash, Skell, and two people all have their own different jobs, like one finds the women who they are going to torture and murder. Due to this new lead, Skell may be released from prison, but the police are going to have a twenty four hour watch. So Jack could still put him back into prison if he can find more evidence.

Outside Reading Book- Week 4- Post A

One emerging theme is kidnapping because two girls have got kidnapped in the book.

‘“Skell may have won this battle, but he won’t win the war”’(172). This is important because Skell is getting out of jail, but the police are still watching him, and trying to build a stronger case against him.

Outside Reading Book- Week 3- Post B

“I needed to regroup and come up with another strategy” (145). Jack Carpenter, the main character, has been in a lot of situations through out the book. From those situations he has always made plans for his method of attack, and some how most of these plans have failed him. When something in his life goes wrong, he always thinks of another strategy to try to finish what he had started. Also, “Joy had punched her attacker as he’d killed her” (140). Jack’s life has changed dramatically from this last couple of sections of the book. His life used to be his own rules, and he could sort of do whatever he wanted to. Now his main witnesses in the Skell case have been murdered, or gone missing. He only has a couple of clues about it, how that they recently had been having some cable problems, and had some cable guys come out to look at the cable, and also another clue is that they drive a white van. Which that van had been shooting at Jack driving down the highway. Due to these recent murders and Simon Skell is coming closer to being released from prison. Jack has to figure out the Skell case, the murders and his life.

Debate Blog

political debates- they occur in various cities.- to inform people about candidates- yes- structured-gives people opportunity to hear the candidates discuss their views.

Outside Reading Book- Week 3- Post A

Vocab:

Melee (p. 125)- a confusion or struggle of several people.

Salinity (p.116)- a solution containing salt.



Theme:
One emerging theme in the book is murder, because people are getting killed.

Outside Reading Book- Week 2- Post B

“If Skell walks, he’ll come after you” (86). This quote was said by FBI agent Linderman. Linderman has been watching Skell for a while, and he wanted to go over the notes, witness statements and other facts of the case with Carpenter. Since Carpenter put Skell in prison for the murder of Carmella Lopez, Linderman states that Skell might want to hurt or kill Carpenter if he gets out of jail. If Skell gets out of jail, he could kill Carpenter, and if Carpenter dies, would Skell kill all of the other people involved with the case too? If this quote was not put in the book, there would not be suspense, and this is an important quote because it is a turning point. Before Carpenter was doing random jobs, and had no steady income. He was lonely due to the fact that he was divorced and his daughter was in college and his life was full of hiding from the police due to his temper and is now turning to a life of hiding from the cops and now probably hiding from Skell too. Now with the possibility of Skell getting out of jail, how will this affect Carpenter’s life because of Skell coming after Carpenter. Would he go into hiding, or do something else that would affect his life. Will Skell find the key witness from his case that is hiding out of fear of her being attacked or killed?

Outside Reading Book- Week 2- Post A

-One emerging theme is mystery because some characters are hiding from other characters and not acting normal.
-“If Skell walks, he’ll come after you” (86). This was told to Carpenter from FBI agent Linderman. Linderman has been looking over the Skell case, and was comparing findings with Jack. When their meeting ended, he said that Skell will probably come after Carpenter when he gets out of jail. If Skell gets out of jail, Jack would have to live with the fact that Skell is trying to kill him, or get him killed.

Outside Reading Book- Week One- Post B

The Book Midnight Rambler has some interesting characters. The main character Jack Carpenter is a former cop who resigned after he beat up suspect Simon Skell. Skell went to trial and was convicted for the murder of Carmella Lopez. Having the Skell case be his last case, he is obsessed with it, still trying to figure out what happened and if he was correct with his thinking of the murder. Carpenter, was known for his temper, and now always seems to be in trouble with the police. For example, when detective Bobby Russo had Carpenter arrested for trespassing, Jack got off the handcuffs and threw them down on Russo’s car. “If there’s one thing that’s gotten me in trouble, it’s my temper. I walked down to the street and located Russo’s car, a black Suburban. I tossed the cuffs onto the hood, causing a sizeable dent” (39). Also, Jack does not have a job. He gets hired by detectives when needed to help with cases and gets paid under the table. Not only is the other things in his life are bad, he also is lonely. He is divorced, and his daughter is in college. I believe that in this book, Jack Carpenter will get into a lot of trouble with the police, and maybe go to jail for a while because of his temper. I also believe that he will try to get his old career back together, and get another job by trying to figure out the Skell case again.

Outside Reading Book-Week One- Post A

-One emerging theme in the book is trouble, because the main character Jack Carpenter always seems to be in trouble with the law.
-“The Police found Carmella” (33). This is an important quote because this is the start of the new thinking of the Simon Skell case. Former cop Jack Carpenter put Skell in prison for the murder of Carmella, but now people are starting to question if Skell really was the killer.

Book Explanation

Midnight Rambler by James Swain
2007
Fiction
350
This book is challenging for a high school sophomore, because it is about a cop who put away a serial killer, but the killer is still in jail and another murder has occurred.
I picked this book, because it is a mystery novel, and I like mysteries, and I think it would be a good book to read.

The Sea Inside post 3

In The Sea Inside, they directors used films of shots like high angle. They used high angle and low angle when Julia was talking to Ramon. There was a close up on Ramon’s face and alternating between Ramon and Julia. Using high angle, it made Ramon seem a little less important, and using the low angle it made Julia look taller. It seemed like she was more important than Ramon. Also, in the beginning of the movie they used fire hosing, which made it feel first person, and that the audience was in the movie. This was important because it made the movie feel more real. Another shot/ film technique that the director used was the extreme close ups. By using extreme close ups, people watching the movie could see the actors emotions, which helped throughout the movie to show how the affect of assisted suicide on the family members and friends. Throughout the movie the director used many techniques which helped the message of the movie be told.

The Sea Inside post 2

The Sea Inside Reflection
The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly are similar in many ways. First, in The Sea Inside, the main character Ramon was a quadriplegic, and in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jean-Dominique had locked-in-syndrome. Both people were trapped in their bodies, and Jean-Dominique and Ramon both wanted to die. Also, they wrote a book. Jean-Dominique wrote a book about his stroke which lead to locked in syndrome and the life after. Ramon wrote a book on some poems that he had written earlier in his life. Some differences are that Ramon killed himself with help and Jean-Dominique did die, but not with help. Also, Ramon was able to talk, and Jean-Dominique was only able to blink an eye lid. This was hard, when he was writing his book. Ramon could easily speak his mind, but Jean-Dominique could not. I felt that the movie The Sea Inside had a bigger impact on me than the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Sea Inside was more powerful, because I could actually see him, his life, and how boring it must have been, being in a bed all the time, and having people tending to his every need. In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I could not picture it as easily because the book confused me.

The Sea Inside- post 1

I was shocked that Ramon actually got help from his friends to commit suicide, because all of the times he was going to and it didn’t happen. When the book was published Julia said that she would bring him the first copy of the book and then that would be the day that he would die. She mailed him a copy therefore extending his day of death. It seemed like he would not get help from people. I think it is wrong that he asked for assisted suicide, because I think it is wrong because he was going to end his life and he should be happy that he is alive. I thought that the court’s response was the correct response, and I don’t think that what Ramon did was the right thing. He should not have killed himself, because he had a life, he could still talk to his family and friends. He also had people who cared about him. His friends, who agreed to help him with his death, did the wrong thing. They were assisting to murder, and I do not believe that that was the right thing to do.

Week 6- Post 2- Essay

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Outside Reading Book Essay

“When you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it” actress Marlene Dietrich once said. People are going to die, but most do not know when. Morrie Schwartz knew he was going to die due to his diagnosis of ALS; ALS is a disease which causes degeneration throughout the body. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is about Mitch and Morrie’s conversations, discussions, and stories during Morrie’s last months. The message is the importance of life, which is shown through passages, tone and imagery.
Through passages from the memoir, Mitch shows the importance of life. ‘“There’s a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need”’ (126). People are constantly being told what to do based on peer pressure. They are blind to the fact that life is not just about what other people think. “I did not keep in touch” (14). Mitch went a separate way after college, and forgot over the years about the meaning of life. “a thousand miles away, in my house on the hill, I was casually flipping channels. I heard these words from the TV set- “Who is Morrie Schwartz?”- and went numb” (23). Mitch got so wrapped up in his own life that he forgot about his professor. The message is explained in passages from the memoir.
Tone is used to help show the message of the memoir. “everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it”(80). The tone helped him say that life is too important and people need to think about death, but most of the people in the world do not believe that this will happen.
‘“Sometimes, in the mornings,” he said. “That’s when I mourn. I feel around my body, I move my fingers and my hands--whatever I can still move-- and I mourn what I’ve lost… but then I stop mourning…I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life’” (56-57).
He mourns, but gets over it because life is too important to waste time on such little things such as mourning. Also, Mitch gives up all his Tuesdays to be with Morrie. The message is shown through tone of the book.
Also, the importance of life is shown through imagery. “Morrie was in a wheelchair full-time now”(18). To be able to walk or not being able to walk, is important. Also: “his shaky handwriting was now indecipherable to everyone but him”(82). His body has become too weak that other people can not read his handwriting anymore. He is decaying quickly, his muscles in his legs went first and now hitting his hands. “Morrie weakly lifted a hand, halfway to his belly”(161). Now barely being able to lift a hand, his body had decayed even more. It shows one important thing in life, being healthy.
Though Morrie is decaying, he can still send the message of the memoir. From not being healthy, not mourning, and not keeping in touch, shows how life should be about people, not get wrapped up so tight in life, that people cant find the meaning of life until its almost too late.

Week 6- Final Summary

The thirteenth Tuesday had come around, they (Mitch and Morrie) talked about what Morrie’s perfect day would be. It was described as a perfect day to Morrie, but seemed like a normal day to Mitch, and then Mitch finally understood the point of his perfect day. Morrie decided that he wanted to be cremated, and he was coughing almost all the time. The fourteenth Tuesday had also came, and Morrie and Mitch had said there goodbyes. Morrie could barely talk, and was sleeping most of the time. He died on Saturday, with his immediate family with him. His funeral was on a Tuesday, a small funeral with close friends and family.

Week 5- Part 2

Mitch came to visit Morrie (the 10th Tuesday). Mitch brought along his wife Janine. The disease had just begun to hit Morrie's lungs. He was almost on full oxygen through the night, and eating mostly liquid supplements, and eating it through a straw. This Tuesday they talked about marriage. Morrie explained that in Mitch's generation people are getting divorced more often than before. People are either too selfish or rush into marriage and end up getting divorced quickly. The next Tuesday (the 11th Tuesday), the talked about culture. The disease has taken over more of his lungs. Morrie explained to Mitch about culture, about how people are only mean when they are threatened. Night Line had came back for the third and last interview, and the 12th Tuesday they had talked about forgiveness. He explained that people need to forgive other people and yourself. Forgiving yourself about the things you didn't do, and not to wait to start forgiving people.

Reaction:

My reaction to this section of reading is that this is very sad. Morrie is decaying quickly. When they had started this television interviews about a little bit after he had been diagnosed with ALS, he was still able to eat real food, and now the disease had hit his lungs, and all he is eating is liquid supplements. That happened in six months. When it progresses to the lungs, he will not be able to breath, and then he will die. He used to be able to dance and move around, now he is stuck in his chair or bed. He can not walk and lift his arm above his halfway up his belly. It is sad what ALS does to people’s body. The conversations that Mitch and Morrie have are really interesting, like how he said to Mitch that people not only have to forgive other people but also themselves.

Week 4- Part 2

This part of the reading is about Morrie and Mitch's conversations. They talk about the found fear of aging, money, and about how love goes on. Aging, a common fear of many people, but Morrie explains to Mitch that aging is not only growing older, but gaining more knowledge. People who were wishing that they were younger, really haven't found the meaning of life. Morrie also explains money. People don't need money to be happy, but people think that they do. Morrie said that when he died he would want all his family around him, because he didn't want any phone calls and telegrams about his death like how he and his family learned about his mother's death.

Week 4- Part 1

'"Everyone knows they're going to die," he said again,"But nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently."'- Mitch Albom (81) Tuesdays with Morrie. I find this is important because it is the truth. Just like the quote says everybody is going to die, but they do not believe it, and if people knew when they were going to die. They would do more things in life. Maybe travel, or just do things differently. Morrie knows he is going to die, and it is important to the book, because it helped a conversation about death. He knows and he is doing things differently because of his body decaying, if he did not know about his death or his disease, he would probably be doing different things than he is.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly reflection

I both liked and disliked The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I thought the book was good because it was a good story about the struggles he went through, with the nurses and having them not being able to understand him, and how he felt being trapped in his own body. I also thought that the book was bad because of the randomness.
I thought the book was good because it was interesting about how he wrote the book. How he tried to get along with his nurses and doctors, and about how he tried to communicate. The book was good because of the describing of his everyday life. He tried to describe his everyday life like his food that he gets through a feeding tube, and other things like his daily baths.
I did not like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I thought that it was random. I could not understand it because in one section he would be talking about present day, and then he would talk about a dream and it was never clear to me when he changed tenses. He talked about dreams then go into present day then past life and experiences. It seemed odd to me about the changes in the tenses. I also did not like the fact that he would talk about moments in his past life or a dream that did not seem clear why they were in the memoir. I wished that he (Jean-Dominique Bauby) explained more about his dreams or his experiences that he put in the book. I thought the book was a too random.

Week 3, Part 2

The book’s strengths are that it’s a good story. The weakness is that I thought there would be a little bit more about Morrie getting sicker, and what the disease is doing to the body. This book relates to my life because a family friend just died this summer from ALS, and its sad about what the disease does to people. I think this is a very sad book. I predict that Morrie is going to die very soon in the book.

Week 3, Part 1

Mitch visits Morrie. He wants to record his conversations on a tape recorder, so he can have his life lessons. Mitch wrote down a list of the subjects that he wants to talk to Morrie about. They are death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, and a meaningful life. Nightline had came back and did another interview/story on Morrie. Morrie talked about his childhood. His mother died when he was young. His father was in and out of work, his brother got sick with polio. They were poor, and he was trying to figure out a job that he would make money, and never had to live being poor again. He decided that he could not be a doctor, or a lawyer, and he decided that he wanted to become a teacher. Morrie discussed death the fourth tuesday he had came to visit.

Mitch Albom was raised in Philadelphia. He graduated from Brandeis University. He has written 9 books. Two of his books (Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven) have been made into movies. Also Tuesdays with Morrie has been made into a play.

Albom, Mitch. Mitch Albom.com. 2006. 7 Oct. 2007 <http://www.albom.com/biography.html>.

Hartlaub,Joe. Authors on the Web. Donadio, Tom, Emralino, Marisa. 2003. 7 Oct. 2007 <http://www.authorsontheweb.com/features/authormonth/0309albom/albom-mitch.asp.asp>.

Picture-

http://www.authorsontheweb.com/images/authors/120w/albom-mitch.jpg

Section 2 Summary

Mitch goes back to visit Morrie, every tuesday. Mitch is still on strike. He travels cross country to see Morrie every Tuesday. Morrie is getting weaker and weaker and can barely lift his arms above his shoulders, and eating is now more of a challenge than before. Mitch and Morrie talk and discuss old college days, life, and feeling sorry for yourself and the world.
It is kind of odd that he traveles across the country to talk to Morrie for a couple of hours. It is also sad the Morrie is getting weaker and weaker and when Mitch lifted him up from the wheelchair to his recliner, he is mostly dead weight and just felt dead to Mitch.

10 Loaded Words (From Section 2)

1. Normal- Normal is loaded becuase there is not one definiton of normal, there is not a set normal. - p. 48- The author is using normal because it is describing a clothing, and there are many ways to describe different types of clothes.
2. Self-pitty- Self-pitty is loaded because people think negativly of people who self-pitty themselves.-p. 57- The author is using self-pitty because the person is totally opposite, he does not self-pitty himself even though he is dying.
3. Teenage- Teenage is loaded because when people hear the word teenage or teenagers they automatically thing bad things.-p.58- The author uses teenage because he is describing a story about two teenage girls.
4. Trailer Home- Trailer home is a loaded word because when people hear this they automatically think about the people living in them being poor. p. 58- The author uses trailer home because he is describing a story that involves a trailer home.
5. Death- Death is loaded because people might assume that it is a trajic insident. -p. 59- The author is describing the professor Morrie, and how he is almost nearing death.
6. Rage- Rage is loaded because when people think of rage they think of bad things.-p.60-The author uses it for a good reason, describing the latest thing in the culture, not a violent rage.
7. Unusual- Unusual is loaded because its just like normal, there is no normal/usual thing, everything is different.-p.60-The author uses unusual because there is not a usual sociology class.
8. Rich- Rich is loaded because when people think of rich people they think of snotty and selfish people, but there are some rich people who are also very kind and nice.-p.33-The author uses rich because he is describing how when he was in college he used to think all rich people were evil.
9. Freedom- Freedom is loaded because not everybody has the freedom to do everything they want, and it is not all the same for everybody.-p.33- The author uses freedom, because back in his college days he used to think about older people and how they did not have alot of freedom to do what they want whenever they want becuase they have to work.
10. Young- Young is loaded because people automatically thinking about young kids/adults.-p.34-The author uses young because he is discribing his younger years.

Section 1 Summary

Mitch graduated from college, and promised to keep in touch with his professor Morrie. Morrie loved to dance, and later that year, he had to stop and he knew that something was wrong. In Morrie's 60s he developed ashtma, in his 70s he had trouble walking. He went to the doctor, and the doctors preformed all these tests, and everything was fine, but Morrie knew that everything wasnt fine. Then they did a test of the muscles, and diagnosed him with ALS. His health declined and he got weaker until he could not drice anymore. Then he had to use a cane, and started teaching his last class. Less than two years later, he found himself weaker and he had to trade his cane in for a walker, then he could not support himself anylonger and had to trade his walker in for a wheelchair. Morrie had a friend die, and he decided that he wanted to have a living funeral. Mitch had graduated, and had broken dreams of becoming a musician. He finally gave up his dream of becoming a musician and became a sports writer for a newspaper. He was flipping through the television and found out that his old professor had ALS, and Mitch flew to go visit Morrie.
Its really sad about how ALS decays your body, and how that it decays your muscles that you need help going to the bathroom and eating and normal things that people do every day.

This I Believe Homework Assignment September 18th

1. A link to the essay
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6196795

2. Author
Jon Carroll

3. Title
Failure Is a Good Thing

–4. One sentence of what the belief is
The Belief is that Failure is a good thing.

–5. 2 examples from the story that showed their belief.
- he said failure is how we learn
- he also said ' "I believe in the power of failure." '

–6. 1 favorite passage
-' “Success is boring. Success is proving that you can do something that you already know you can do… Failure is how we learn.” ' - Jon Carroll

Thursday September 6th

I am anxious about the different classes and more opportunities at Edina High School. There are more clubs to join and different classes to take that were not offered at the middle schools.

One goal for my sophomore year is to work harder to study and get good grades on test. Last year I did not do so well on tests and quizzes, so this year I want to work harder to study for tests and quizzes.