Self Made Man Blog

Willy worships his brother Ben very much. He talks about him as being such a great and wealthy man. He says he went into the jungle and came out rich. He also says that Ben offered for him to go to the jungle with him but he turned down the offer. He always says he regrets that decision because if he would have went to the jungle with Ben, that he would have come out a rich man. Everything would be different if he just went with him. He worships his brother because he accomplished this. He talks about him being a self made man and thinks very highly of him.
Malcolm Gladwell disagreed with Willy’s claim saying that Ben was a self made man. He said no one could technically be called self made. He said it all depends on the opportunities you get. If you don’t get the opportunities it’s just not fair to the rest. I actually agree with most of what he is saying here. Also, he said it depends on your background. If you were born into a wealthy family that can provide more and give you more opportunities you have a better chance to succeed. He said success is a product of your culture and background. It depends on what your parents and great grandparents did for a living. He proves this by saying China kids go to school 250 days and here we only 180. This shows how it depends on your culture and how hard you work. I disagree with this just a little bit because I think success is possible without a great background or special opportunities. I feel like you would just have to work extremely hard at accomplishing it.
Howard Roark did agree with Willy when he said that Ben was a self made man. He says it’s possible to be successful no matter what your background is. You just have to work hard at it. I agree with this but I feel like you have a much better chance if you have a great background and good opportunities. He calls himself a self mad man. He uses an example of the first man to create fire. He didn’t have a special background or certain opportunities for that. He said they are going to face hardships but they are going to have to work through it to become successful. He also said a man who thinks must think and act on his own so they could be considered self made. He is basically saying the complete opposite as Malcolm Gladwell did.
I honestly do not believe the self made man is a myth. I believe it is possible to be self made. It won’t be as easy that’s for sure. You will have to create your own opportunities and work extremely hard for it. An example of a self made mad is a guy named Mardy Gilyard. He was homeless and living in his car for a long time. He was also really poor. He decided to try out for University of Cincinnati’s football team and he made it. He got a full ride to play football and that was all from working hard. He soon went and played in the NFL and is making a lot of money. So I feel like there is such a thing as a self made man.

Instant Reader

My invention is called the Instant Reader. I can really see them coming up with something like this. Instead of buying a tablet or ipad for book you could have this for cheaper. It is basically a projector that has a white surface under it. The green part would have a search area to find any book out there. It would project the book on the screen and you could read any book instantly. It would be in stores and only cost 200 dollars and you could have unlimited amount of books for free. It would be solar powered but you would have to change the light bulbs every 2 months. That wouldn’t be a problem though because the light bulbs are very cheap. This would help out the people in Fahrenheit 451 because they could have books without people knowing about them and burning them and their house for it. The only problem would be keeping them secret from the firemen. You would have to go to a regular store and specifically ask about the Instant Reader. You would have to go through a test to see if they could trust you not to give away the secret. If they didn’t pass the test, they wouldn’t get to buy one. I could really see someone creating this in the future. People are buying less and less books each year and with this they could have any book in a couple seconds. Its not that expensive and not too big. I think it would be a good invention.

Blog

http://padlet.com/wall/44igg4srr1

I found this article to be very interesting. It is called Spokesman of the Slums, by Flora Charner. It is about a boy named Silva who was in high school at the time. He was fourteen years old and wanted to be a journalist when he grew up. He would write about the Alemão, which were very poor towns known as favelas. Police officers would randomly enter these favelas and try to catch all the drug cartels to make this place as safe as possible. There was governor elected and his name was Leonel Brizola. He made it illegal for police raids in Rio de Janeiro. These slums could no longer be destroyed. The drug cartel leaders soon became in charge of the Alemão and the people followed their rules mainly because they had to in order to survive. Silva was bought a lap top and started a twitter account. Silva was awakened one day by helicopters flying over his house. He turned on the television and saw officers lined up entering the slums with their guns. He then heard gun shots right outside his window and knew something bad was really happening. He started tweeting about everything that happened and he became very popular on twitter. He went from having 180 twitter followers to 29,000 and he couldn’t believe so many people were interested in it. He was asked to carry a torch at the Olympics there. His main goal is his project to grow bigger. He wants there to be reporters in poor communities throughout all of Brazil.

I feel like this story I chose to summarize is actually very important. It shows no matter who you are and where you live you can always make a difference. It’s really neat someone living in the conditions has the desire to make a difference in people’s lives and not only worrying about his life. He doesn’t have close to the best life but that doesn’t stop him at all because he effected many lives and made a huge difference. I believe human interest stories do deserve to be called news because most everything on the news now is a depressing and no one enjoys hearing about that stuff. A good human interest story would most definitely be nice to hear on the news. I feel like this type of journalism is ten times better than the major media outlets. Like I already said, all of the news stories we hear now are all about depressing things. For example, a lot of the stories are about killings or other deaths. I feel like this type of journalism is full of good news that will make people happy. I feel like everyone deserves to hear about this kind of stuff. Even if these stories aren’t about happy things is will make us think about life and make us realize what is really important. I think this website really does promote equality. It shows that no matter if you’re rich or poor anything is possible and you can make a big difference. It shows that even these people in the slums are regular people and should be treated the same as everyone else.

http://narrative.ly/patchwork-of-poverty/spokesman-of-the-slums/

The Killers Part Two

The Killers Part 2

     Gabe Roberts  12/15/13  F

I decided to make a sequel to the short story “The Killers” by Ernest Hemingway. I chose to make a sequel to this story because I enjoyed it a lot. It was my favorite story by a long shot.

Two killers named Max and Al are still waiting for a man named Ole Anderson. They have been coming to the diner every day since they got the order to kill Ole Anderson. They haven’t caused any harm to people there for a while. Nick Adams and George both moved away so they didn’t have to deal with any of this. They contacted the police about these criminals but the police did not want to get in the middle of these vicious criminals. So, the men decided to disappear from the town until all of this got cleared up. They asked Sam to move away with them but he felt like he needed to stay. He left the diner for good but he stayed to help out Old Anderson as much as he could.

The men did not warn the other workers at the diner about everything that was going on. These new workers at the diner just thought these men coming in every day for lunch, just loved the diner very much. They had no idea what was actually going to happen. It has been over 2 months and Ole Anderson still hasn’t left his house at all. Sam has been visiting him at least twice a week to bring him anything he needed. Old Anderson kept telling Sam he was going to come up with a great plan to end all of this. Sam was getting tired of taking care of Ole Anderson so he wanted it to end very soon also.

One day Sam was given an envelope with a list of things from Ole Anderson he was to buy for him. On the list there were ordinary things like food but something at the end of the list shocked Sam. It was cyanide, some makeup, a wig and a big bundle of cash was in the envelope. Sam could make a good guess at what his plan was. He wasn’t totally sure he wanted to partake in this because of the trouble he could get himself into. He decided to be a good friend and get the supplies Old Anderson needed.

Old Anderson put on the makeup and wig and got a job application for the diner. He got hired and was working there within a week. Max and Al still came to the diner on a daily basis waiting for Ole Anderson to show up so they could finally kill him. It was Ole Andersons first day on the job and it was almost 2 o clock. He had the cyanide in his pocket and was waiting for the killers to walk in the diner. Within an hour the diner was empty. All of the sudden the killers came into the diner. They sat down and they both ordered a coffee. Ole Anderson knew this was his chance so he poured the coffee and slipped the cyanide into their drinks without them noticing. He handed them the coffee and they both preceded to drink it having no clue the man was Ole Anderson or he poisoned their coffee. Ole Anderson watched in enjoyment as both of the men were gasping for air and died within ten seconds. He was extremely relieved that all of this was finally over. He was relieved but scared at the same time because he knew more people would be sent to kill him. Now it was time to think about what he was going to do next.

Huck Finn

If I were to think of ways that you can “glitz up” the original story of Huckleberry Finn I would definitely have it take place in Alabama and have them travel down the Alabama or Tennessee River. I feel like that would be the best place to have the story. It would because it still fits how the people would act there and the accent and slang would fit perfectly with the story. They would also have log cabins like I picture in Huckleberry Finn. There would also be a lot of open farm land with little towns in it. I like the original setting so I wouldn’t want to change it too much. I would keep the same time period because I feel like it makes the story more interesting. I would still have the characters dress like they are in the actual book. For instance, Huck and Jim are runaways and they haven’t had a change of clothes for a while. Their clothes would be old and have holes in them. All of the characters clothes would be jeans and a raggedy shirt or overalls. I would also give the characters guns to make the story more interesting. That would be the setting and time period for my remake of Huckleberry Finn.

Now I would have to decide characters to play their parts. I would make Shia LaBeouf as Huck Finn. I feel like in some of his movies he is a rebel and does what he wants. I feel that fits Huck perfectly. I would make Michael Clarke Duncan play as Jim. I feel Michael Clarke Duncan does a very good job and acts like Jim. He is very nice and is innocent. I think he would fit Jim perfectly. I would put Johnny Depp as Tom sawyer. He would be a good Tom sawyer because he can basically play any character he wants. I would put Charlie Sheen as Hucks pap. Charlie Sheen has anger issues and is mentally unstable. I feel like he would fit that perfectly. Next, I would make Sandra Bullock as Widow Douglas. Sandra Bullock is a very good actress and always plays as the girl who tries to help others like in the movie “The Blindside.” I would play Queen Latifah as Ms. Watson because she was strict and bossy. I think she fits Ms. Watson because she would always tell Huck Finn what to do. I would choose Vince Vaughn as the Duke and Owen Wilson as the King. I think they would fit those two perfectly. For example, in the wedding crashers they pretend they are people that are not and get into weddings. They act like other people to get things they want. Like the King and Duke act as the brothers to get money. I would choose Dakota Fanning to play as Mary Jane because they act alike. I think Dakota Fanning did a very good job and “The Secret Life of Bees” and would play Mary Jane well. I would make Mel Gibson as Colonoel Grangerford because he owned slaves in “The Patriot” and treated them well and was very respectful. That would be my character list.

Stereotypes

I looked through a lot of the blogs and decided to do the one about camping. I disagree with most of what they are saying. My family has a camper and we camp a lot. We have camped in many different places but the best were defiantly Canada and Michigan. We got to spend time with our family and had a great time. Camping is really enjoyable for my family. In this passage it says it’s not easy and costs a lot of money. I disagree with both of those statements. It is actually very easy and it does not cost my family much money at all. We have had most of our supplies we need to camp for a very long time. The only thing you need to buy is food and drinks. The passage also says that camping is not enjoyable. I find it very enjoyable. You just have to learn how to respect the nature and everything around you. It is actually very relaxing. It also says a lot of bad things can happen to you while camping like getting poisoned or lost. Nothing bad has happened to anyone in my family while we were camping. Those dangerous things can happen though. You just have to understand the risk of camping in the middle of nowhere. You also have to be prepared for the worst. One very scary thing did happen to my family while we were camping. We were in Algonquin, Canada and a storm was coming our way. We drove to a big parking lot with no trees around us. We had no clue but there was actually a tornado going through our campground. We were lucky and no one from my family was harmed. There were people who got hurt and there were some deaths. So I do agree when the passage says camping can be very dangerous. For the most part I disagree with the passage.  So I would say this passage is untrue.

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain portrays Jim as every other black slave. Mark Twain writes a lot of racist stereotypes for a lot of African Americans back then.  Just because they are black does not mean they can’t read or write. Also, that black people can’t speak correctly. It would not seem so bad if you look at when the story takes place. He tells how Jim is not smart at all. Almost as if he is retarded. He says he can’t read or write. In the book it when Jim talks all of the words are spelt wrong and he looks like he has no education.

I think most people do no stereotype but there are still some around today. I believe it is very unfair to those people. As much as I want to say I do not stereotype, it sometimes just happens. I don’t mean to do it and I feel bad when I do. I think our society should think about things more before they say anything that could come out to be stereotypical. No stereotypes would make our society a lot better.

Oregon Trail extra credit

The Walden Project

Over fall break I really wanted to think of something good to give up. I was thinking of giving up my cell phone, but that would have been too much of a struggle. I wouldn’t have been able to communicate with everyone or plan things. I decided to give up watching TV and playing Xbox. Overall, it was actually pretty easy. I had soccer practice every day over fall break so I didn’t have much time to do those things anyway. I was also busy basically every day. The only bad thing was when had some free time and didn’t know what to do. I normally watch TV or play Xbox with some friends when I am bored. So, I had to think of other things to do. Instead, I went outside to think of things to do. I ended up getting people in my neighborhood together to do something. We all decided to have a big basketball game. It was a lot of fun. After that, we drove up to skyline and had dinner. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I chose that over sitting at home and watching TV.

Another day, I almost watched TV but I remembered that I gave it up. I decided to go to town and country and kick soccer with some people on my soccer team. We all went to chipotle after and it was a good time. I also went outside and played football with people. I shot basketball at St. Joe with some friends and then went to Applebee’s at 12 o’clock. Applebee’s has 25 cent wings after 12 o’clock, so we ordered 50 wings. It was a lot of fun and a much better time than staying home and watching TV.

There was like two things I did not like about this. The first one is that I couldn’t watch all the college football games on Saturday and the NFL games on Sunday. I was not happy about that. Watching the games is the only good thing about a Sunday. The other bad thing is I couldn’t play Fifa with my friends. We always have a tournament and it’s a lot of fun. I had to sit out of this one. I think it was worth it though. I had a lot of fun because I gave TV and Xbox up. It wouldn’t have been the same without it.

I learned that I have a much better time without TV and Xbox. I’m going to try to use them as little as possible because of this experience. I got to hang out and socialize with my friends a lot and it was a very good fall break. Here is a quote from Mitch Albom that I believe describes this project. “Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.” I do not regret this sacrifice at all and am very glad I did it. It was a really good experience.

Visions

                                                                                                                        Gabe Roberts 9/29  F

                                                                                                                        Service day essay

I believe service should be a big part of everyone’s lives. It can help you realize what’s important in life and help grow in faith. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” I like this quote a lot because it is saying no matter who you are, you can serve. It relates to my service day because I watched little kids who have a rough life with very young parents. All they need is love and attention and they will be happy. They do not get enough attention at home and the love they need to thrive. Anyone can help these kids, you just have to be willing to try to make them happy and feel good about themselves. If they do not get the love and attention they need they could end up having a rough and bad life. For my service day I went to a place called Visions. I will be telling you all about this program and what we did there to help these kids. 

            Visions is a good place and is trying its best to make a difference in kids lives. Here is the description of the organization. VISIONS Community Services (VCS) is a non-profit organization located in the West End of Cincinnati which serves young parents and their children from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. VISIONS provides a unique blend of services to parents and children. We assist teen & young mothers & fathers to obtain their high school diploma, GED, pursue post-secondary education and enroll in job training. Our early childhood education center provides a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environment while preparing children to succeed in kindergarten. Our philosophy is that education is the most effective way to escape poverty. I believe this program is changing many young kids lives. It is truly giving these kids a good influence to look up to. It is also changing the teens lives who would have no education if it was not for visions. It is helping them become more successful and a less of a chance to be facing poverty in the future.

            I had a great time while doing service at Visions. The only thing I did there was hang out with like 15 toddlers the whole day. We played around with them and just watched them having a good time. Some of these kids got really attached to us. They would not leave our side throughout the whole day. It was sad once we had to leave them because they were so happy with us there to give them the attention they needed. It was a lot of fun and made me think of how great I have it. It made me feel bad because these kids did nothing to deserve the life they have. I feel the same about the toddlers parents. They were not raised correctly so they did not see anything wrong in having a child at a young age. This organization is just trying to break the chain and help these kids grow up to be great people. It also gives the teen parents hope to getting an education and getting a good job to support their family. It was a great experience for me at visions and I hope to go back soon.

            I think going to Visions made changed what I think about service. It made me realize how much service can help people. I think is awesome how the people who run this program sacrifice so much to help these people. They could be doing something else with their time but they decided to change lives. It fit our school motto “Charity first”, perfectly. It shows us these people choosing to help others rather than helping themselves. I learned a lot from this and am going to do service as much as I can because I now realize how important it really is and how much of a difference it can make.