Sam

5/24/11

English

Mr. Salsich

My Spirit:

An Essay about Strength of Spirit

Dear Reader,

I am writing to you today to inform you of something tremendous, something strong, something amazing. The strength of spirit will not let me quit. The strength of spirit will make me persevere. When I have a passion for something I will give it my all. I feel my whole life I have been someone who does not give up, someone who will not give into pain, someone who will keep pushing, someone who will hit the wall over and over. The strength of spirit is truly amazing. It is what keeps you pushing through pain; it’s that little voice inside of you that tells you not to give in. If you have a strong spirit you can’t be broken; you are invincible. Nobody can bring you down. I write to you today to explain this amazing strength called spirit.

-Sam

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Book Summery (Lone Survivor)

Marcus Luttrell is a born and raised Texan. It was understood in his family that if you wanted to live in this great country of The United States, you had to serve your country. At the age of fourteen, Marcus and his brother decided to become Navy Seals. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Marcus and his seal team, Michael Murphy, Danny Deets and Mat Axleson, were given a mission called Operation Redwing. Their job was to kill a high ranking Taliban leader with anywhere from 80 to 200 Taliban warriors in the area. They took position on a mountainside where they watched the town for days. When surveying the village, two goat herders came upon them, giving away their position. The seal team made the gut wrenching decision to release the men. The team relocated to a different spot when all of a sudden 200 Taliban warriors surrounded them from all sides. Without a doubt, the gun fight started. These four Navy Seals were severely outnumbered by 200 Taliban warriors. The team was taking huge amounts of AK47 and RPG gunfire and suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite being shot in the head, having fingers blown off, and having RPGs whizzing by their heads, the men did not give in. They had too much spirit to give in. They would not give in until the very last breath they took. After hours of battle, Marcus was the only one left. He found refuge in a village where he was healed and sheltered from the Taliban. Marcus and his teammates sprit was too strong to surrender.

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Recipe for Spirit Cake

In order to make this cake you will have to have a lot of strength and determination. The more effort you put into making the cake the better it will be. You will need a strong mind, bravery, self confidence, passion, determination, anger, and lots of spirit.

- Mix some bravery and self confidence into a bowl, and mix until you don’t care what other people think.

-Then add just a stick of passion and a cup of determination.

-By now you should be feeling stronger

-Then add just a touch of anger to add some boldness.

-Finally bake for about thirty minutes.

Enjoy your Spirit Cake!

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In my own life, the novel A Tale of Two Cities, and the play Julius Caesar, there is one reoccurring theme: Strength of Spirit. In A Tale of Two Cities there is one character that clearly demonstrates Strength of Spirit the most. Sydney Carton is who I believe shows his strength of spirit in a few ways. First, he does not care what people think of him. People think he is like an old worthless piece of furniture, but Carton does not let them get to him, his spirit is too strong to let their words hurt him. He does not give up trying to marry Lucie. He keeps trying and failing, but he will not give up until he sacrifices his own life to free Lucie’s husband in order for her to be happy. In Julius Caesar, Brutus is a great character who shows his strength of spirit in one very bold way. Caesar is and unfair leader that does not treat his people well. Brutus plans to kill Caesar in order to help his people; even if it means killing an old friend. Lastly, I believe I too show some strength of spirit. I am the type of person that does not give up. For example, coming to Pine Point was no easy task, however I did not give up, I kept pushing, and now I am excelling.

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Journal Entry

Dear Journal

I can’t believe I am about to write these words down, but with Pine Point coming to an end I am truly sad. It’s hard for me to believe it was just two short years ago I was biting my lips on the car ride to Pine Point overwhelmed in pure anger with my parents. At the time, I could not believe the guts they had to make me change schools. I felt like they were ripping me out of my home and taking me to a foreign land. However, with each day I started to settle in, feeling progressively happier with my move. I soon met two amazing people: Morgan and Joseph. And with time I became friends with many others, learning how truly funny and interesting everybody is. Also, I met some really amazing teachers, always surprised by how passionate and caring they are. At the end of my eighth grade year I really felt like I had accomplished something amazing. However, my Pine Point journey was not over yet. I still had my last and best year to look forward to. My ninth grade year has truly been one to remember. I have grown so close to everybody in my grade that I feel like a family.

Now the days are becoming limited, and I know my time at Pine Point will run out, and this amazing journey will end. But with Pine Point ending comes a new beginning at Kent. It feels like I just got settled in at Pine Point, and now I must restart all over again. I feel if it wasn’t for my strength of spirit I wouldn’t be able to handle everything. Because of my strength of spirit I was able to move to Pine Point, and it’s because of my strength of spirit that I will be able to leave . I wish I could go back to my first day and relive these fantastic two years. I feel like I blinked and just like that Pine Point is over.

Sam

4/20/2011

English

Mr. Salsich

Strength:

An Essay About Strength In Julius Caesar

Everybody has some strength, either physical strength or inner strength. Some people are strong mentally, others are strong physically. In the novel Julius Caesar, there are a few characters who demonstrate having both these types of strengths.

In the novel Julius Caesar, there are a few major characters that demonstrate a great amount of both physical, and inner strength as well. The first person that comes to my mind is Cassius. So far in the book Cassius has appeared to be a strong man with no fears, eager to take on anything. Along with him being strong and brave, he seems a bit cocky, “And thus umbraced, Casca, as you see, have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone; and when the cross blue lightning seemed to open the breast of heaven, I did present myself even in the aim and very flash of it”. It is lines like this that give Cassius his masculine cocky personality. The next character that shows a great amount of strength is Portia. Portia is a very strong woman, who stands her ground and will not back down from her husband Brutus. At one point in the book she gets so mad at Brutus, that she stabs herself with a knife to show she is not afraid. The last character that displays a lot of strength is Brutus. Brutus's strength is not physical, but moral. In the book, Brutus is friends with Caesar, but Caesar treats his people unfairly. Brutus will not stand for Caesar to be unfair to his people, so he comes up with a plan to overthrow him. To stand up to a man of immense power takes a lot of moral strength. All characters show their strengths in different ways, some are strong and brave, others are morally strong.

Whether it is baring your chest to lightning or standing up to your friend for the good of other people, all three of these characters truly show some form of strength. Some may be more extreme than others, but they all are strong in one way or another.

One writing issue I continue to work on is lengthening out my sentences. I feel some of them are short and choppy when they could be long. One strong point I see is the clarity in my writing. I felt like there were no parts in my essay that may get the reader confused. One possible weak point I see is my special affect. I continue to work on mastering each one. The grade I would give myself for this essay is a B+. I put a lot of time into re-reading and checking for grammar mistakes.

Sam

4/19/11

English

Mr. Salsich

Body Paragraph Outline

In Julius Ceasar, there are a few characters that have a great amount of strength.

The first person that comes to my mind is Cassius.

So far in the book I have thought of him as a strong man who has no fears.

Along with him being strong and brave, he seems a bit cocky, “And thus umbraced, Casca, as you see, have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone; and when the cross blue lightning seemed to open the breast of heaven, I did present myself even in the aim and very flash of it.

It is lines like this that give Cassius his masculine cocky personality.

The next character that has a great amount of strength is Portia

Portia is a very strong woman, who stands her ground and will not back down

At one point in the play she gets so mad she threatens to stab herself to show that she is not afraid.

Another example is Brutus

Brutus is close to Ceasar, but he loves his people to much

He will not stand for Ceasar to dictate over his people, he comes up with a plan to get rid of Ceasar.

To stand up to a man of immense power takes much strength.

Sam

4/10/11

English

Mr. Salsich

The Universe Has A Plan: An Essay about Fate

According to Julius Ceasar we are, “masters of our fate”. However I disagree. Nobody can be the master of their own fate; there are some things you have no control over. People can try to map out their entire lives, but in the end their fate will do what it wants.

In my own life I have tried to be the master of my own fate. However I can clearly see I have no control(Bell) over it. At the beginning of the day I always try to come up with a plan. I schedule when I go to the gym, when I do my homework, and see if I have enough time to relax. However, during the course of the night I fall sidetracked to something else, causing my night to change. I have some power to what happens at night, but not all. On a larger scale, I always thought I would stay in public school with my friends, just flying under the radar. But I ended up coming to Pine Point, a place I never imagined I would be. And now I am going to Kent next year. This was a mere dream back in middle school. Leaving for a high school that I thought to be unachievable brings me a great sense of accomplishment. I believe men can be masters of their own fate to a certain degree. People can make choices in their life that will lead them to where they want to be, but they will never have the final say.

Many other people have tried to be masters of their own fate, but like everyone else they have no control. In the movie “Million Dollar Baby” the main character is a professional female boxer who ends up breaking her spine. She ended up becoming paralyzed from the neck down. She was on her way to making millions, she was on her way to becoming a famous professional boxer, she was on her way to achieving her lifelong goal, but all her dreams ended in an instance, crashing right before her eyes. In my favorite book, “Lone Survivor”, the main character Marcus, is on a mission in Afghanistan with his Navy Seal Team, when they were caught in an ambush. Once his comrades started dropping one by one, he was outnumbered 1 to 300, but Marcus did not give in. Marcus never planned to be put into this horrible situation, but his fate thought otherwise. Some people are even born into a fate that they don’t want. When someone is born with a disability they have no control over what happens. They have to deal with that cards they have been dealt.

Whether it is planning my day or being caught in a horrible tragedy, people are not masters of their own fate. They can try as hard as they want, but in the end the universe has a plan for everyone. You have to deal with the cards you have been dealt.

One writing issue I continue to work on is writing longer sentences that flow. I feel I have many short choppy sentences. One strong point I see in my writing is how I don’t get off topic. I feel my writing gets right to the point. One possible weak point I see is the left and right branching sentences. It is hard for me to sometimes put in these “special tools”. I would give myself a B- on this essay.

Essay 17 outline

Sam

4/10/11

English

Mr. Salsich

According to Julius Ceasar, “Man is the master of his own fate, however I disagree.

Nobody can be the master of their own fate, there are some things you have no control over.

People can try to map out their entire lives but in the end their fate will do whatever it wants.

The universe has a plan for everyone.

In my own life I have tried to plan out my day or week, however it never ends up the exact way I planned.

At the beginning of the week I always try and come up with a plan for the week, and even the day.

I schedule when I go to the gym, when I do my homework, and see if I have enough time to chill.

However, during the course of the night i fall sidetracked to something else, causing my night to change.

On a larger scale, I always thought I would stay in public school with my friends, flying under the radar.

But I ended up coming to Pine Point, a place I would never imagine I would be.

And now I am going to Kent next year. This was a mere dream back in middle school.

I believe man can be masters of their own fate to a certain degree.

The can make choices in their life that will lead them to where they want to be.

But they never have the final say.

Many people have had more unfortunate fates that they would have never dreamed of having.

In the movie “Million Dollar Baby” the main character is a pro female boxer who ends up breaking her spine.

She ended up become paralyzed from the neck down.

She was on her way to becoming a pro boxer, make millions, but all her dreams ended in an instance.

In my favorite book, “Lone Survivor”, the main character Marcus, is on a mission in Afghanistan with his Navy Seal Team, when they were all of a sudden caught in an ambush.

Once his comrades started dropping one by one, and he outnumbered 1 to 300, Marcus did not give in.

Marcus never planned to be put into this horrible situation, but his fate did otherwise.

Some people are even born into a fate that they don’t want.

When someone is born with a disability they have no control over what happens.

They have to deal with that cards they have been dealt.

Whether it is planning my day, or being caught in a horrible tragedy, people are not masters of their own fate.

They can try as hard as they want, but in the end the universe has the final say.

You have to deal with the cards you have been dealt.

Sam

4/6/11

English

Mr. Salsich

Outline

- I believe that not everybody is the master of their own fate.

- Making the right choices and decisions you make will affect your fate, but in the end you can’t help certain things

- The Universe has a plan for everybody, whether they like it or not.

- However your actions can greatly impact your fate.

Fate is something that nobody has control over, you must deal with the cards you have been given

However, sometimes not being in control of your fate is a bad thing.

For me, I wanted to stay at public school with my friends, I was happy there

But I ended up coming to Pine Point