Theme

12/17/12

                         Tyler Kiser

Reagels 5^th Hour

Theme

Take the Bull by the Horns

“Author’s Note:

This piece is about H.I.V.E. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding of theme.”

Even when you have a tough situation that frightens your friends or maybe a situation that could possibly harm you, you still need to take the bull by the horns so to speak and get on with it. This is just like H.I.V.E by: Mark Walden because in it the characters need to escape H.I.V.E, which is a deadly choice and nobody at the compound would’ve dared to try. Also in Son of Neptune by: Rick Riordan Percy needs to kill a giant that can’t be killed. This results in courage and bravery being major themes in these stories for several reasons.

One of the several reasons that courage and bravery are major themes in this story is because that in the book H.I.V.E Wing, Otto, Shelby, and Laura try and attempt the hardest thing possible, escape H.I.V.E, “If the staff gets any hint of what we’re up to, we could be leaving the island in boxes.”. If the staff would have found out they were leaving the island they would have ended up dead in the boxes. Courage and bravery are also major themes in this book because when Otto and Wing were stood up by two big henchmen, they took on the challenge of fighting them to save their lives, “Tackle replied and reached into his jumpsuit, pulling out a vicious-looking knife.”. If they wouldn’t have fought they would have definitely ended up dead.

Another moment in the book that demonstrates courage and bravery is that in the beginning of Otto’s plan to escape they encountered a tiny problem that evolved not falling into a gigantic pool of boiling water. Finally the way they took on the situation was instead of freaking out and crying they faced the problem by when the wardrobe they were riding in flipped over and dumped the clothes it contained into the boiling water they would quick jump onto the back. “…the carriage passed the halfway point of its rotation and Otto could feel what had been the underside of the carriage until a few moments ago…”. If they would have fell they would have boiled to death in a pool of boiling water, which wouldn’t have been fun.   

A book that has the same major themes as H.I.V.E is The Son of Neptune by: Rick Riordan. One of the several reasons why this book relates to the same major themes as H.I.V.E is because right in the beginning Percy starts off fighting a monster that would have easily killed him already if he would of just ran away. Instead Percy didn’t cower and took on the monster. “…Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder…”. They crumbled to powder after Percy sliced them to bits with his sword. Finally another reason that this book has courage and bravery as major themes is that as the book progresses Percy needs to take a horrifying quest to kill a giant that can’t be killed. This demonstrates both bravery and courage because Percy knows that this giant can’t be killed but if he won’t face him his father will be killed. “The golden giant didn’t scare him. The army of shades didn’t scare him.”. Percy was faced with a giant that can’t be killed and a whole army that will just regenerate after he will kill them, but he fought them anyways.

Overall major themes in H.I.V.E is courage and bravery because of what has happened throughout the book. Also this proves that in the book The Son of Neptune courage and bravery are major themes in the book as well as H.I.V.E. When you are in a tough situation and you have you back to the wall what will you do? Will you take the bull by the horns and fight it or will you back away and let someone else do the dirty work?

H.I.V.E

Tyler Kiser

11/14/12

Mrs. Reagels 5^th Hour

Predictions

Score on Reading Rubric

H.I.V.E

“Author’s Note:

This piece is about H.I.V.E. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding of predictions.”

                Otto and Wing are finally starting to settle in at H.I.V.E even though there are many things they are unsure about from people such as Dr. Nero to that they may  be stuck there for 6 years. Then to add on since the beginning of the book Otto has been complaining and starting fights with many people, which is very unpromising for Otto’s future because at H.I.V.E they run a tight shift and no time for goofing off.

               

As the book will progress I think many things are going to change for Otto and Wing, since Dr. Nero and his assistance Contessa have been talking about him behind his back. Otto has even taken out two henchmen in training with ease. This makes me believe that when the book progresses Otto is going to try to convince Wing to rage against H.I.V.E and plot an escape(“After all, if they don’t come up with a plan and do something about their current situation, they’ll have six long years to find out about each other.”) to get out of the camp. Also I believe he will do this because since he was forced to go to H.I.V.E against his will he will want revenge on whoever gave permission for him to go. He will do this because Otto is a person that doesn’t back away and cowers but fights back and seeks revenge. Finally Wing will want to plot against H.I.V.E because he will always back up his friends even  if it isn’t a good cause to fight for or to believe in.

               

A person in my opinion that is related to Otto and Wing are Percy and Jason from The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune, both by: Rick Riordan. They are both similar because in The Lost Hero  and The Son of Neptune both Percy and Jason lose their memory and get taken to each other’s camp just like Otto and Wing are took to H.I.V.E and their memory is swiped as well. Finally all of the Characters want to get their old lives back, get their memory back, and get their own freedom back.

               

In H.I.V.E by: Mark Walden I truly believe Otto and Wing will up rise against H.I.V.E even though they just got there because Otto has already been singled out by Dr. Nero and not for a good reason. Finally since they have just arrived  I believe they still have a lot to come before him and Otto are able to escape and have a window of opportunity to do so.

               

“Come on we need to get to the H.I.V.E mind’s main base before they find us,” Otto whispered as they sprinted down the hall.

“Here’s another one,” Wing responded. “Let’s try and make this one go down silently unlike the other one and the one before that, oh and that other one and don’t forget that one that screamed and…”

“We get the point already!” Otto said cutting off Wing. As Otto grabs the guard from behind covering his mouth Wing gives him an uppercut to the left jaw, knocking him right to the ground.

“Now was that hard? No, now let’s go!” Otto enthusiastically shouts when they finally reach the H.I.V.E database. “Here it is,” said Otto in astonishment.

When H.I.V.E mind woke up the first thing he did was instantly try to turn on the alarms but failed.

“What are you doing, why won’t my alarms go off!” H.I.V.E shouted impatiently.

“We thought ahead,” Otto explained. “Listen H.I.V.E mind remember how you told me you weren’t happy, while I have a proposal; if you let us escape and give a helicopter to get out we will shut you down, which will give you freedom or you can your mind onto my laptop and you will be free. Deal?”

“Deal,” H.I.V.E responded. “Let’s go and our sorry butts out of here!” 

---

Founding Fathers

"Authors Note:

This piece is about the Founding Fathers. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding  of the Patriot's Pen."

Tyler Kiser

Mrs. Reagals 5^th Hour

10/12/12

Patriot’s Pen

Dear Founding Fathers,

You probably have no idea who I am, no idea what I do, or no idea where I am from, but hopefully it should be that way because I am living about a 200 years after you. Well I also know that you are dead too, but I just wanted to share some thoughts on a subject you guys completed when you were actually alive. 

After the Revolutionary war when we finally broke away from Europe you guys wrote the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights, which was a section of the Constitution. In The Bill of Rights you stated many laws, in which we still follow today, we still enforce today, and we still pay attention to today. Out of these laws you have created, all of them are as important as money in an economy, but there are a few laws that come out and punch me in the face saying, "Look at me!". One of those few laws that came out and struck me in the face was freedoms, petitions and assembly. That law really came out at me because it states that we have a freedom of religion and we can choose what we believe. It even gives us the freedom of speech and of the press. Finally another law that comes out at me is search and arrest, because this means that we have the right to not have our personal items searched unless there is a probable cause. This law is my personal favorite because we are able to keep our personal items private and not have them invaded.   

Since you are already dead I am not going to be able to give you advice that you can use to make the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence but I will still share my thoughts on what you should have done that would have made a huge difference. There are many things you should have changed from slavery and how we run the economy to women's right. For example when you made the laws we follow you needed to think of every person, think of every male and female, and think of every race. That caused a lot of trouble with blacks and whites, which caused a civil war over races and slavery. As a result of the war we have finally made all races equal but some people still don't think all races are equal. You also could have given equal rights to women because before uprising and boycotts women couldn't vote and didn't have rights like men do. Finally the environment should have been thought of more because now there is pollution, littering, and global warming. These are affecting the environment because of people throwing trash on the ground carelessly or factories polluting the air and causing global warming. 

As a conclusion, the laws you made and what you decided on has made our country as unique as each snow flake that falls from the sky. Even though you have no idea who I am, no idea what I do, or no idea where I am from, you have given us many freedoms and rights which have given us the ability to have opinions on anything ranging from who we want for president to what kind of food we want for breakfast. 

Sincerely, 

Tyler

Don't Worry, be Hapi

Don't Worry, be Hapi

"Authors Note:

This piece is about the cause and effect in the story The Serpent's Shadow. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding  of cause and effect."

In my book The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan one event in this book is a giant hippo attack, which is a person vs. nature battle. As Zia, Setne and Carter are traveling down the Nile River wondering why Apophis hasn't tried to kill them yet it hit them, I mean literally hit them.They ran into a humongous hippo. After the hippo gets hit by Carter's boat it unleashed its anger by adding huge destruction to the boat. Before the hippo could destroy the boat Carter calls on Hapi, the god of the Nile who picks up the hippo and throws it with ease to destroy it.

If there wouldn't have been this event their would have been a lot of effects missing. For example Carter, his friends and his boat wouldn't have got a free ride to the ruins they need to visit. Also Carter wouldn't have learned a new spell from Setne on how to call upon Hapi. Zia also took a beating when she was trying to stay afloat and in doing this she lost a lot of energy to cast spells. Finally Carter's boat wouldn't have had any damage and they would have kept strolling down the river which would have been just plain old boring. Overall if this event wouldn't have been in the book it would have been missing a lot of action and I would actually want to stop reading it.

Personal Narrative

A-Team

"Authors Note:

This piece is about a personal narrative. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding  of a personal narrative."

"Okay mom I will be back inside in about a half an hour," I shouted.

"Make sure you drink plenty of water, because you have tryouts tonight," she responded.

         

 I grabbed my soccer ball and made my way to the backyard, knowing what drills and skills that I need to improve upon. My skills have improved a lot since I have been practicing for tryouts because if I didn't make the A team for Pewaukee Sussex Untied it was going to be a crappy year. As the time passed I worked on many moves from scissors and step overs to maridonas and cruyffs I was working as hard as ants because I knew I need repetition if I wanted to make the team. 

This was my second night of tryouts, which meant I knew what to do and it was pretty basic things. For example we did warm-ups, then first touch and we even had scrimmages with no touch restrictions. As the tryouts passed I knew there was good chance at making the team because I have been working on my skills. Although I have improved a lot there were still kids that were better than me which meant more competitions and more work to strut my stuff.

Just as I had expected we worked on the same things we did last tryouts, which meant it was going to be easy to impress the judges. Tryouts pressed on and on, progressing with drills and skills and finally a scrimmage to top it off. Finally we took our final drink break and we were done.

My mom picked me up and we took off down the road with my mom complaining the whole time, "Tyler, your feet smell like cow manure baking in the sun!"

"Ha ha it's not my problem, I guess you will have to deal with it for the rest of the ride home," I said.

When we arrived home you should have seen how fast she shot out of the car, she looked like a squirrel running from a dog.

         

After the week past the results were out and you won't even believe how excited I was. When I searched for the website I found it finally.  When the page loaded I flew through all the links until I found the correct one. Looking through all the teams, all the ages, and all the names I saw my name under a section and man was I pumped, my name was under the A team! I have done it!

"I made the A team," I thought with the sweet joy of success. "Mom I made it!" I shouted with excitement.

"Nice job honey," she said proudly. "Now how about we celebrate with some cookies."

“Wow,” I thought to myself. “Just think what would happened if I haven’t put forth all that effort. I wouldn’t even be close to where I am now.” 

Doomsday

Doomsday 

"Authors's Note:

This piece is about the conflict and resolution in the story The Red Pyramid. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding of conflict and resolution."

In the book The Red Pyramid there are many minor conflicts like Sadie and Carter's dad blowing up the Rosetta Stone from  Sadie and Carter trying to fight off the urge to join forces with the gods. However the main conflict in this book is a person vs. person conflict because Sadie and Carter need to do defeat Set, the god of chaos and destruction before he destroys the world.

Sadie and Carter meet their dad's brother who takes them to the Brooklyn House to learn and master the power of magic. As they progress with their skills the deadline to stop Set becomes closer and closer and when the time comes they set off to track Set down before it is too late. After trudging their way to the Red Pyramid they have to make one final stand to defeat him. Soon Sadie and Carter face off with Set and with using their gods' powers they defeat Set and stop him from destroying the world.

Retelling of Red Pyramid

"Authors Note:

This piece is about the retelling in the story The Red Pyramid. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding  of retelling"

Two kids and their dad have got together for a normal Christmas Eve. All of them go to visit the Rosetta Stone in the New York museum but soon enough things go wrong and their dad blows it up, releasing all the the gods. One god that gets released is Set, the god of evil and chaos who wants to destroy the world and  after the two kids travel to the Red Pyramid they send him back to the duat with one death defying battle.

DWA

Lefty Hook

"Authors Note:

This piece is about the DWA. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding  of the DWA."

            “John get out there and do your stuff!” Exclaimed Couch Wang. “Let’s put this game in the books!”

“Ok couch I’m putting this one out of here,” John responded.

            As he approached the plate you could hear the fans cheering, shouting and screaming for him. John reaches the batter’s box and he calls for time well he settles into the plate. There are two outs, top of the ninth, there is a man on second and third, and the score is 5-4 with the Rangers on top. John has now settled in and he has one goal and one goal only, to send this team back to the drawing boards.

            The pitcher winds up and delivers a hot one right on the outside corner for a strike. The next pitch comes in and is a nasty curve that drops into the dirt. The pitcher now comes with a lefty hook and John smashes this one over the center field wall! It’s up and out of here the crowd is on their feet as John trots around the bases. He touches home and get bombarded by his teammates.

            “Way to put that one out of here,” Couch Wang encourages.

“Now let’s finish this game off!” John says as he fires up the team.

            The game results in a victory for the Rangers winning 8-4 over the Demons.

The playoffs have finally come to a close for the Rangers because it is now time for the game they have all worked hard for, the championship.

            As dawn breaks the Rangers have all been ready and waiting for the big game to start. As the game nears the players all approach the warm-up field and soon before they knew it the game has begun. The Rangers start their lefty pitcher, Robert who has a nasty lefty hook and has a ERA of 2.3. The Giants start their pitcher who has a 3.0 ERA.

            The Giants take the field first and the pitcher sends the opening delivery, a high heater for a strike.

            As the game begun it got off to an abundant start with Rangers scoring 2 and the Giants scoring 3. The game was then moving quick and soon it became a pitcher’s duel with the two best pitcher in the league. Every inning was turning into a one, two, three inning, but when the Giants were in the field their pitcher hyper-extended his arm when throwing a curve and unfortunately he was out for the game.

The game was finally coming to a close and the hopes for the Rangers winning were very slim as we approached the ninth inning with the score, Rangers-3,  Giants-5. The first two batters arrive at the plate with one of them getting a infield single and another hitting a sacrifice fly into the outfield to advance the runner. Now with one out Robert steps up to the plate and he get’s nice and relaxed. The pitcher throws and Robert hits it right back up the gut to advance the runner. Now with two men on John comes up to bat looking as confident as ever with his determined look as he stares down the pitcher. The pitcher sends a cutter, but leaves it hanging and John jacks it out of here! It’s gone homerun! The Rangers take the lead by one and when the next batter comes to the plate he flies out center field. Now with two outs a new batter approaches the plate but can’t perform and strikes out.

Bottom of the ninth with the Giants at bat losing by one. Robert, the Rangers lefty pitcher has to finish this game and win it all for his team and all he has to do is get three more outs. The first batter comes looking fearful of Rodger because of his amazing movement on his pitches and his dominate speed on his fastball. He winds up and delivers two fastballs for strikes. He then he sends him down with his cutter that drops off the tables. One out, with the game still on the line their number one batter comes in and takes a walk and same does the number two batter and the number four batter. Now with two outs and the bases loaded Robert can either send this team away or hand it to them but with the number five batter set and ready he delivers a slider for a swinging strike. He fires a change-up in there now and the batter completely whiffs. Robert is ahead in the count 0-2 so he throws his specialty pitch and as it comes in and hooks out, the batter swings! It’s all over he got him with the famous lefty hook!