Somebody to Lean On

Author's Note~ This is an analysis piece on Under the Baseball Moon by John H. Ritter.  I am trying to score a 10 in body paragraphs by incorporating quotes from the book.

One great trumpeter, and one great softball player.  That describes the stories of Andy and Glory in Under the Baseball Moon, by John H. Ritter.   In this story it shows the dependence of Glory and Andy’s relationship together.  Ritter was able to show the reader that they should always have one person to lean on and to be dependent on someone.

In my life I am dependent on many people, including my parents and my grandparents.  Either in a financial or support way I always have them to depend on.  In live it is always good to have someone to help pick you up or help you out.  In the book Whenever Glory had a bad game Andy was able to pick her up and make her feel better and improve.

Having someone to depend on is often something you see in sports when teammates pick each other up to play better.  Or in golf when caddies encourage their player that even though they hit a bad shot that they can rebound on the next.  During the story you were able to tell that there was definitely points where Glory tried to pick up Andy to help him play trumpet and vice versa. This quote says it all. “Good, because I will totally lift you up, I promise.” Pg. 218

People picking you up or motivating you happens all the time in life.  Like in the story A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving.  In this  book you were able to emphasize how much of an impact Owen and John had on each other.  Just like with Andy and Glory’s case all the characters were able to have someone to rely on when they needed it most.

As you think about how often you rely on people in life you can also tell that people in books also do a lot of relying on each other.  In life dependence is one of the thing that people need to live life successfully.  Learning to have someone to depend on and lean on when you’re in trouble is one of the thins Ritter told you in Under the Baseball Moon.   

I Ran.......Will You?

I have escaped this

Dying country

With no light

Under the ground

Where you may

Die and starve

And loose light

But it’s ok

You can forgive me

But it is for our own good

Someone needs to leave

And it wasn't you

This parody relates to The City of Ember and how they were all able to find a way out.  This would have been the apology letter  from the people who escaped and who left everyone back. Eventually everyone gets out and its happy but the mayor doesn't and he dies.

A Big Change

Author's Note~ This is a character development piece I wrote to meet my goal of scoring a 9.5 or higher in this category.

A fighter, a hard worker, that pretty much explains Bruce Edwards story in A Caddy for Life, by John Fienstein.  Bruce faced trouble throughout his grade school career and had to be sent off to a prep school to keep him out of trouble.  The one thing that kept Bruce out of trouble during the summer was caddying.   Bruce loved caddying and the game and you could tell that through the game he changed from a trouble maker to a nice, loving, caring man.

At the start of the book Bruce was messing around all day and doing bad things.  His parents noticed and sent him to a prep school.  Both of his parents believed that the prep school would help Bruce turn himself  around and become a much smarter and wiser person.  It turns out something totally different than his parents thought.

When Bruce was diagnosed with ALS he was given great respect from all players and other caddies.  Bruce changed a lot throughout his life in this book.  He became a highly respected person in the game of golf and he was able to change many people throughout his career as a caddy.  Many people gave Bruce great respect throughout his career as a caddy and that changed his life.

When people heard about Bruce’s story they all felt bad for him and thought he would have to quit caddying right away and never be able to caddy again.  Bruce motivated millions by still caddying and inspiring others with ALS.  Once Bruce kept on caddying people were amazed and inspired by what he could do with such a killing disease.

When I read the book I was motivated as the reader.  This story was sad and the readers view on everything changed a lot.  Bruce was a bad boy that people didn’t like but as he grew throughout the story and his life he received great respect.  Bruce was a hard fighter and tried to live as long as he could with ALS and fight his hardest.

Bruce’s story reminds me of Glory’s of the main characters in the book Under a Baseball Moon.  Glory was bullied as a kid and ended up turning into someone who would sit in the corner and throw fits a lot.  No one was her friend.  She moved to Arizona for a couple of years and then ended up moving back to Ocean Beach totally changed and as a new person and athlete.  She relates a lot to Bruce because she found a sport that changed her life dramatically.

Bruce and Glory changed a lot throughout the stories.  Both of them found a sport or activity to change their lives.  Bruce motivated thousands with ALS or people who didn’t even have ALS to try harder and fight harder in life.  Through the love of caddying Bruce, a nice, loving, and caring man changed his life.

A Stressful Story

Author's Note~ This is my figurative language piece on the poem Release. I want to score a 9 or higher on this piece.

The stress in life and how you get rid of it.  In the poem Release, by Mark R Slaughter, the whole poem revolves around a man’s stressful life.  What the poem tells you to do is release all of your problems and stress.  The author realizes that stress is an everyday encounter between people and that the acceptance and releasing of it is the most important.

During the poem the poet used many onomatopoeias to give the reader a different view and perspective of the poem.  Words such as “thunder, crack, and pop” were used during the poem.  As the reader read the poem these sound words it grabbed the reader in and showed more suspense during the poem.

“Arms like his would suit me well -I'd bust the walls; escape this hell”.  This line could be a couple things, a simile as well as a hyperbole.  When the simile was used it affected the reader as if he was jealous of somebody.  Then when the hyperbole was used it clearly pulled the simile and the hyperbole together.  It affected the readers perspective because the word “hell” could be used as an exaggeration and he would need to be really strong to break out.

As figurative language is used in the piece it changes the tone the reader has.  I would say that it adds a more dramatic tone towards the poem.  The poet was probably trying to do the same thing by inserting figurative language to make the reader think more and add more suspense into the piece.  Also as figurative language is used in the piece the main character had many different traits and you could figure that out by analyzing figurative language.

In the poem the poet used many examples of figurative language and it was obvious that it affected the piece as well as the final lesson the reader got out of it.  When someone reads a poem they always know that when a poem has figurative language the poem becomes more interesting and a higher quality piece.  During the poem the poet uses figurative language to tell the reader about overcoming stress and the hardships in life.