Basketball The Poem

Basketball is a game of chances. If you don't make the good pass you won't get a shot off. If you don't make your easy shots you lose. "Basketball is all about stats" says Teddie Nevermann. Stats are the calculations of the chances of you winning. You've got to play your cards right.

Toy Story Conclusion

It was a bright summer day. Andy had just graduated college. The whole last term all he thought about was playing with his old toys that were once his best friends. But when he arrived at home and ran straight to his room he remembered he gave them away to Bonnie. Andy wasn't a happy camper anymore. He thought of things to cheer him up and he got a great idea. Play with his slinky dog. But he gave that away too, there was nothing else to do besides go see Bonnie and ask for a few days with his toys. When he got to Bonnie's he realized how much she had grown. She was turning eleven in a few months and she was having a yard sale and was selling her toys which were once Andy's. Of course Andy went and bought them. When he got home he couldn't help but play with them all day. Lucky for him he went to college to be an author. Finally he had found his muse. He was going to write a story about toys. It would be called "Toy Story".

Deception

One theme that is in "The Lottery" is deception. There is deception because the title doesn't mean what you think it would at first. In the story there is a lottery throughout the town. You would think that the people of this town would be over joyed to win. But you're wrong! Who ever wins this so called lottery gets stoned to death. Throughout the book Mrs. Hutchinson says that the lottery was rigged and how her husband didn't get enough time to pick. When reading it's confusing because don't you want to win the lottery? Not exactly a lottery you would want to win.

3 Viruses

Imagine, just laying in bed, sweating, with outbreaks of spots and tearing of skin all over your body. These are many effects of diseases. Some diseases are fatal. There are millions of viruses but three of the worst ones are swine flu, yellow fever, and small pox and almost none of them have pro’s, all con’s. The definition of a virus is “an agent that sickens one, but needs a host to reproduce (Virus). It consists of a core made of DNA and surrounded by a layer of protein” (Virus). Which basically means that it makes one sick, there aren’t any pro’s. Some symptoms are fever, cough, chills, vomiting, headaches and excessive diarrhea (Swine Flu Symptoms) . To me those are all con’s, no pro’s. There are ways to prevent these three horrific viruses. Most of the time, when people go to Africa or places around there they get the yellow fever vaccine (Ethiopian Adoptive Family Care). Since there have been a few documentations of yellow fever outbreaks in Ethiopia (Ethiopian Adoptive Family Care). Although there can be some side effects from the vaccination. Some side effects of the vaccination are fever like symptoms and sore arms. The swine flu vaccination has pretty much the same effects as the yellow fever. Some are tenderness, redness, and swelling where the shot was given (Hitti). Terrorism is a terrible thing that is sadly going on through the world right now. Everyone is afraid of the big guns but another many people aren’t afraid of that they should be is smallpox. For the past decade the U.S. has been afraid that terrorist will use smallpox against us as a weapon (Yellow Fever). If terrorists let that into the world it would be terrible because it is highly contagious (Smallpox Disease Overview). All you need is face to face interactions for it to spread from a person to another (Smallpox Disease Overview). Also it spreads very quickly (Smallpox Disease Overview). When you hear virus, right away you think of bad but there can be stuff that helps, but most often there aren’t really pro’s, just con’s. Kind of reminds you of jail. It’s good we have science so we don’t break out with torn skin and perspiration issues.

Percy's Themes

Loneliness is a terrible thing. No one ever wants to be lonely. Unlucky for Percy Jackson, the main character in “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan he’s kind of an outsider. This is why loneliness and isolation is the main theme of this book, although there are other themes. The biggest theme in the book is isolation and loneliness because he was dyslexic and got expelled from every school he ever attended. Then once he found out he was a demigod which is a kid born of a Greek God and human that made him different even more. Due to being a demigod he also had to stay at a camp that was only demigods were allowed. Even though he was just like all the other demigods he wasn’t. He wasn’t because he was a son of the “Big 3”. This means he was a son of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. Percy is a son of Poseidon. He is the only son or daughter born of the “Big 3” since WW2 which is when they took the oath to not have any more kids because they were to powerful. So Percy was different and didn’t fit in the mortal and Greek God world. The second theme is love. Percy’s mother is captured by Hades Minotaur and is kept in the Underworld. Percy must battle some of the most powerful things known and unknown to man. But one thing is straight he loves his mom and his mom loves him. As Mrs. Jackson is being disintegrated by the Minotaur her last words are “I love you Percy, good luck”. Percy gets offered a part on the dark side but doesn’t take it because of his love towards his mother. In return Percy’s mothers love towards him is what fuels him to conquer evil and save his mother. Rick Riordan first took interest in Greek Mythology as a young boy due reading “Lord of the Rings”. He said he loved it so much that he read it ten times. This lead him to study Greek Mythology in high school and college (Riordan). Which then lead him to pursue his dream of being a full time author (Riordan). He got a huge idea of the book Camp Halfblood from where he taught in the summer, a summer camp. The events throughout his early years are what lead him to such a great book. The theme of isolation and loneliness is just like “The Outsiders”. Ponyboy and his group of friends are greasers. They’re outside of the click called the Soc’s which are the rich kids. All the kids pick on them because there poor and their hair has more grease then a Pizza Hut pizza. The Lightning Thief connects to The Outsiders because Percy is different from the other kids. Just like Ponyboy, he is different but only cause of how much hair grease he uses. Loneliness is not only a theme but the lifestyle. Because of isolation all the other themes tie into together, hand by hand.

KD vs. LBJ

Author's Note: This piece was written to show how much better Kevin Durant is than LeBron James.

Ten seconds left your team is down by two points, the crowd roars with excitement of their favorite team winning The Finals. Who would you give the ball to, Kevin Durant or LeBron James? Personally I would give the ball to Kevin Durant.

My first reasoning of giving the ball to Kevin Durant is he is so clutch. If you look up on Google “how many buzzer beaters has Kevin Durant made” there’s a page or two full of different buzzer beaters he has made. You have got to be clutch to hit that many buzzer beaters. That is just where Kevin Durant thrives, being clutch. As many have heard you can’t get four quarters of basketball out of LeBron James. This is why a dollar is worth more than LeBron James because you can actually get four quarters out of a dollar. Earlier this short NBA season LeBron was having a great game. But his team was down one with six seconds left. He could’ve shot but he passed the ball and the shot missed. If that was Kevin Durant they would’ve doubled teamed him then he would’ve done a little shimmy did a step back jumper and drained it nothing but net.

The second reason Kevin Durant is better than LeBron is Kevin went to college unlike LeBron. Which means Kevin Durant is smarter. Kevin Durant also has a better basketball IQ. It even says that on 2K12 basketball for PS3. Kevin Durant is more likely to make smart plays and better plays over LeBron James. Smarter plays equal more championships. More championships equal more fans and money. Kevin Durant just has the chain effect which is why he is such a dynamic figure in the sports world.

The third reason Kevin Durant is better is he has two inches on LeBron James says espn.com. Also Kevin Durant has a 7’5 wingspan says basketballheaven.com. LeBron’s wingspan is only seven foot. That is two and a half inches shorter for each arm. That’s a lot of leeway for Kevin Durant to dunk on him like he did April 4, 2012.

It’s not just that the coaches want to give Kevin Durant the ball. Kevin Durant wants the ball in his hands when the clock is ticking down.

Tones of Songs to Poems

Author's Note: This piece was written to show the difference of modes from a song to a poem.

I think the music of "Field Below" helped portray the mood you would get from the poem. Because it was sad. Although in "Big Yellow Taxi" it is the complete opposite from music to poem. In the poem you would think sadness but from the music its really up beat and energetic.

I don't think the artist should've changed the mood off the song "Big Yellow Taxi" because when you listen to what the lyrics really are you're like should I feel happy or sad? But I guess some people say that's what makes a good song if it makes you think about it.