Obstacles

In life we face many obstacles whether they are huge obstacles or just little ones we face everyday. Everyone deals with them differently but it all depends on the person facing them. Martin Luther once said, “The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.” This quote resembles Santiago from the old man in the sea. By Ernest Hemingway. Santiago dealt with differently then most people. He faced bad luck, a giant fish, and staying focused.

The first obstacle Santiago faced is the beginning of the book, most people would look right over it but it makes a huge impact to the rest of the book. Santiago was not catching any fish he was considered “Soloa” which is a horrific form of unluckiness. “He had gone eighty-four days now without catching a fish.”(9) He could not catch any fish. After the boys parents would not even let the boy come with Santiago because he was saloa. But Santiago was so ambitious he ignored everyone and kept on fishing knowing that those people were just a bunch of pessimistic group of people. I always thought if he was on a roll catching fish left and right would he be so obsessed with catching this huge fish. Would he have been so devoted to catching this fish if he knew that he could just catch a lot of smaller fish. That was the obstacle he faced with being unlucky.

The next obstacle is when Santiago just caught the fish and was trying to reel it in. He finds out that the fish is really big and powerful. “I’m being towed by a fish and I’m the towing bitt. I could make the line fast. But then he could break-it, I must hold him all I can and give him line when he must have it. Thank go he is traveling and not going down.” Santiago is struggling with not knowing what to do. If he does just one move wrong he could lose his giant fish. But he ended doing the right thing. His obstacle was how he should bring in the fish now that he has caught it.

Lastly his last obstacle was he had to stay focused and awake. On his last day he was starting to lose focus. “Clear up, head. He said in a voice he could hardly hear, clear up.” He couldn’t stay focused. He had to stay concentrate in order to get the giant fish he had caught he wasn’t going to let this fish go. Also he was tired. “He had been on the point of feeling himself go each time.” He was struggling to stay awake because he had been up for three days straight. But in the end he fought through it and persevered through the pain and stress.

Santiago faced bad luck, a giant fish, and staying focused. He is very unique, most would just give up right after two hours or so but he didn’t. He had a lot of self-discipline and fought through the pain. Although Santiago didn’t get the fish in the end he still took a chance and he got a good experience out of it.  “If we don’t take chances in life we will never learn how to fail.” –Steven Spielberg said that after one of his movies tanked in the box office. This is saying that you need to take chances in life in order to get somewhere we need to tackle those obstacles that life throws out at us just like Santiago did with the giant fish.

The Skye

 Sky, when you think of sky do you think of the big, blue, mysterious space above your head? Do you think of the white, puffy clouds that drift by?, The birds that soar aimlessly?, and do you think the Sky is the limit? Well I’d like to say “Yeah that’s exactly what I think Sky is.” But when I think of Sky I think of those dreadful days wondering if you will ever live to see tomorrow. Three years ago events happened to the sky that changed my life forever. I wish I could forget that word forever. The only thing keeping me from forgetting it is my name. I hear that word everyday, every hour my name is Skye and I am writing this so that people will know the truth of what really happened those days.

          Event 1

Sunday 8:00pm 24 hours left

          Like any other dreadful Sunday. I had just finished doing the last of my homework. I went outside to watch the stars hoping I would see a shooting star to start off the week on a good end. I lay there flat on my back, right on my deck tilting my head toward the stars, just relaxing and watching the stars. (At that time I loved looking at the sky)  I could feel winter was coming. The air was crisp and cooler than it was yesterday, but comforting. I lay there thinking and planning out the upcoming week. Suddenly there was a shooting star. Then another one, and another. Then there had to be at least ten right in a straight line following the first three stars. That was really odd I thought. I had been coming out here every Sunday for two years and not once have I ever saw more than three shooting stars in one night. So seeing ten in a straight line was mind boggling. I didn’t think much of it at first but later I would find out that it would change my life forever…

Monday 7:00am 13 hours left

           I missed my bus because I woke up to late. By this time my parents have both left for work and so I wold have to ride my bike to school. By the time I would get to school I would miss my first class. The thought of just not going to school came into my head but immediately left my head because my parents wouldn’t be happy about me missing school. So I packed my bag for school and jumped on my bike. I started riding down my street trying to think of the quickest route to school when I noticed the sky looks very dark today. I stop and look up. I know that the sun is still rising, but the sky looked like it should be filled with dark rain clouds but the sky was empty and very blue. Shouldn’t that mean it should be really bright outside? It’s not. Then something seems even stranger the sky looks too blue and empty almost… fake? Oh, well I should really get to school. So I start riding again and just as soon as I start, I stop. Shouldn’t there be birds flying south for the winter? I look over the Horizon and nothing, nothing but blue emptiness. What is going on? I think to myself. I decide to turn around and ride to my mother’s work instead. (My mom is meteorologist so I thought she would know what to do.)…

Monday 8:00am 12 hours left

           It took me about an hour to get to my mom’s work which was in the next town over. Right when I walked into the door there was chaos everywhere. I had been to my mother’s work a couple of times but not enough to know where her office was. So I went to the main desk and there was no one there. I walk through the lobby and go down the hall all around me everyone is running around almost looking panicked. I look at all the doors and the nameplates on them and suddenly I am pushed and slammed against the wall. I look to my right and see a huge machine getting pushed in to the main room. Then I see she spotted me. She looked up right away I could tell she was angry at me for skipping school. She marched over to me and says.” SKYE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! SHOULDN’T YOU BE AT SCHOOL?”

“I missed the bus and was on my way to school when I noticed that the sky, it was so-“

“Yeah the sky is very weird today we are trying to figure out what it is” My mom interrupted. “You should just go home. Its too late to go to school by the time you get there it would be half over so just go home and stay inside till I get there.”

I thought why I would have to stay inside. This must be something very serious.

So I ask,"Is everything alright? Should I stay here and help out-"

“No! Just go straight home and get inside!” My mom demanded. I have never seen my mom so flustered before…

Monday 3:00 pm 7 hours left

The whole day was pretty boring I actually started to regret skipping school. My day consisting of me sitting in my bedroom listening to music lying on my bed reading some magazines, I also watched a movie that a friend said I should watch. It was some old, dumb sci-fi movie about aliens invading earth. Like that could really happen. (I Thought.)  I was just finishing up organizing my magazines when the phone rang. It was my Mom so I picked it up and said,” hey, Mom how’s everything going over there?”

“I need you to listen carefully and follow my orders okay? We are under attack. By “we” I mean Earth. We don’t know what or when but I need you to get to safety we are calling everyone to the giant auditorium in downtown so I need you to get a ride with one of your friends and I will see you there. Oh no! Got to go!”

And I was disconnected…

Monday 8:01 pm 59 minutes left

          Things didn’t go as planned. On my way over to downtown I got a ride with my neighbors (they were really old, always bickering over everything. and never seemed to get my name right.)  While they were fighting over what type of vegetable they should plantin their garden when, something can hurtling toward us from out of the sky and crashed right in front of the car. They didn’t notice so I jumped to the front and took hold of the wheel and swiveled around it. Then the car came to an abrupt stop. I went flying through the windshield. I hit the ground with a thump and a sharp pain went up my arm and another sharp pain went up my leg. Blood trickled down the side of my face. My whole body hurt. I was afraid to move. So I lay there for a while. When suddenly I am lifted and carried into a building. Everything goes black…

Event 2

Tuesday 1:00am 12 hours left

          I had figured out that Earth was under attack by aliens, That the building I was in, was one of three that the survivors from the first big explosion were in, we had to travel to the ship that would take us to a new planet, and my parents might be dead. We had to travel in packs of five and travel to the ship in downtown. We were lucky because we were the closest of the three to the ship. My pack was all middle-aged adults. The “teen packs” left earlier when I was just arriving. There was one other Girl who was in my group and was waiting to leave. I recognized from school I couldn’t recognize which class. I knew her name which was Mia. While we were waiting for our turn to travel we talked about what the ship might look like…

Tuesday 6:00am 7 hours left

          We had arrived at the ship and put into floor levels. Each level had a certain range of ages. (9-13, 14-18, 19-25, 26-40, 41-49, and 60-over anyone younger than 9 would stay with their parents.) I was put on level 2 the 14-18 year olds.

          When my group arrived we were all separated except for me and Mia ( we were the same age) We both had to sign in and were put in the same room number. We were brought down this long hallway with tons of doors along the sides. Finally at the end of the hall was our names. Mia opened the door and inside was two beds, a bathroom, two closets, and a kitchen. It looked pretty much like a hotel room. We settled in and found that we had no other clothes besides the ones we have on so we search the closets. What we find are uniforms. They were horrendous you had a choice between gray jumpsuit, gray skirt and white blouse, and gray sweat suit all with two pink strips running down the sides…

Tuesday 12:00pm 1 hour left

          After showering and changing into the uniform I decided to find out if my parents were alive. I went to the main level with Mia. We waited inline with a bunch of other people who were wondering if any relatives made it or not. We waited and waited and finally our turn. The front desk person gave me a packet of names who are not  here on the ship and I searched through until I got to my last name’s last letter “s” and there was what I had never wanted to see..

                                       

          I had lost my mom and dad that day. I had also lost My home planet the place where I grew up. Those events are always being told to the younger ones none of them are the truth. Those moments when the sky opened up and aliens attacked changed my life forever and I did nothing to stop it. Everyday I regret not staying with my mom and regret not talking to my dad that much. You will never know what you got till it’s gone. This story is probably just going to get lost and thrown away but in my heart I know I had also gained something that day. I gained a friend, a new home, and a new future. My name is Skye, not like the big, blue space above your head, or the what the birds soar through, but the name  Skye. Just Skye.

Second speak response

Statement #9 Parents simply don't understand the problems teenagers go through.
     I still agree with this statement because in the book Melinda didn't want to tell her parents what the problem was, but if she did they could have probably helped her. They could have helped her get through the year and could have probably cut her some slack. She didn't think her parents would understand they might not have understood entirely but could relate to some extent.
     All though at one point in the story her parents didn't understand her. At Christmas time her parents got her a sketchpad and pencil. " They give me a handful of gift certificates, a TV for my room, ice skates, and a sketchpad and pencils. They said they noticed me drawing." pg.72.They noticed she had been drawing a lot lately. She was really only drawing because she was having problems. Her parents misunderstood her completely. Which made her feel sad and about to cry. They were just trying to help. Parents most of the times can help and understand but sometimes they don't understand and try to help but make it worse.
  Also in the book she just wanted to lay in bed and do nothing the whole vacation but they made her work. " I had 2 days before my parentsdecided I wasn't going to "lounge ariund the house all vacation" I have to go to work with them." Her parents cleary did not understand what she was going through. But if she just told her parents in the first place maybe she could have stayed home and didn't have to go through going to work.
       All in all I think parents do understand it is just you have to make sure that you are clear with telling them the problem. They are always there to help and always willing to help. Thats why I agree with this statement.

Charatcer Analysis

Melinda is a typical teenage girl just trying to fit in. The only thing stopping her from fitting in is that  she is a total outcast. No one likes her. She is allways depressed and has a closet she hides in at school. She a had a friend in middle school named rachel. Rachel was the one that invited Melinda to the party. That party is what brought Melinda's reputation down because she called the cops. As the story goes on she eventually she starts to make friends like David and kind of Ivy. That is what Melinda is like during the book

compare/contrast

Melinda reminds me of my cousin who lives in New Hampshire and she always says that she feels like an outcast and says she has no friends. Ironically she has a one friend named Kristen and she is very loud and abnoxious. But that was last year things are getting better and ahe is starting to make new friends and is a lot happier now.

Response move for second marking period

Repetitions, Patterns, Motifits:
I See that a lot of time she is always getting bullied by other people. Melinda also always has something bad happen to her. Like the first day of school the lunch that got spilled on her by the "basketball pole" Then is the second marking period he comes back and Melinda has to teach him to do a free throw shot. So a lot of the characters come back in different parts of the story.

Speak Reading Response Move

Readers response:
When I am reading this book a lot goes through my mind. This book makes you feel sad and you feel really bad for Melinda. I don't like how everyone is mean to her and her life as an outcast, but sometimes we forget how mean people can be and how misunderstood people could be. This is definitely not a up-lifting passage. This paage always makes me think if anything will ever get better or will at the end she will not be an outcast anymore.