Multi Genre Project

Multinre Project Genre


Foreword


As you come of age you take taking things more serious also when you come of age you try to teach people younger then you what you have learned as you got older so they can have someone to teach them right from wrong and just be a better person. My theme is about how  baseball and how it changes as you get older. In this project I am hoping to show the reader my coming of age as a baseball player.  My first writting piece is a short fiction story about a Boy and his friend thats been the top player on all of there teams and they both get recruited to the same highschools. As the boys got older they both changed and one of the friends ends up swithcing schools due to his placment on the baseball team. In this story i hope to show the reader how as you get older the game changes and becomes less friendly.
My second writting piece is a non-fiction personal narrative on my career as a baseball player and how the game became more intense and serious.


Short Story


Hi my name is Brian and this is my story.
  When i was around 5 my dad started a park league baseball team so i would have something to do over the weekends, on my team where all my friends from school but one of them was my best friend, Steve. Steve and I were the best on our team. He was a left handed pitcher and i was a right handed short stop known for my hitting. As we got older steve and I left my dads team to go play on a travel team, we were still the best players on the team. On the travel team we went all over the country but a tournament in south carolina was the best; in South carolina Steve and i were doing great in fact we went to the championship game, in the game steve pitched a no hitter and i had a 3 run homerun in the last inning for us to win the game. After the game two highschool coaches came up to us and asked me and steve if we wanted to go to there private school, me and steve werent 2 sure if we could afford it but they said we would got a full scholarship. Me and steve both wanted to go to school  there so we asked our parents if we could move to south carolina, After a whole lot of begging we ended up going to the school. Our freshman year me and steve were put on the junior varsity team but steve didnt like that, he thought he was going to be the best so he left the school and went to the schools rivals. I was sad to see steve go like that, since then i havent seen steve until my senior year in highschool. It was the Championship game and for the first time my school and our rivals were in the championships. it was going to be my last game in highschool and before the game my coach told me there a bunch of scouts from different colleges looking at me and the oter teams pitcher. right before the game started I noticed the other teams pitcher looking right at me, as i took a second look i noticed it was Steve i couldnt belive it was him. Steve came up to me and just said good luck and walked right back to his dug out, as he walked away it looked like he changed alot. The game started and the first inning steve walked 2 batters straight, he was furious. Once he got out of the inning he threw his glove on the bench and was thorwing a fit. The game was scoreless until the 4th inning when i hit a solo homerun off of steve, as i was rounding the bases steve kept mouthing to me your dead, i thought he was joking so i said im so afraid sarcastically. In the 8 inning the other team scored on a sac fly. Then came the 9th inning. I was up, before i got up my coach told me the scouts were looking at me and steve so this at bat would see who they wanted. i steped into the batters baox and steve mouthed again your dead, the first pitch was high and inside and almost hit me, i soon realized steve was trying to hit me so i asked coach if i could get a pitch hitter and my coach looked at me like i was crazy and sad very funny now get up there and win us the game. The next pitch would change my life for ever. all i rember was after the pitch i was in the hospital. It turns out steve hit me in my head with a fastball and that parlized me, Becuase of that game i will never be able to play again. It took a couple of week of therapy for me to learn how to type and now my best memory is when me and steve were 5 playing on my dads team when baseball was just about having fun.


personal narrative


Baseball has been a huge part of my childhood and still is. When i was around 3 i played on my brothers 78 pct team coached by my neighbor. Until i was 6 i played with my brothers team and the only memories i have is all the parents going to every game. once i started to take baseball more serious i joined a older travel baseball team. when i was 7 my team made it to the little league world series and it was one of the greatest memories i have. When i was around 9-10 i noticed most of the parents just stoped coming to the games and i noticed the kids looked less and less happy when they played. also when the parents didnt come they would spoil there kids with gifts. My dad was always there and tryed to be aprt of it as much as possible and i think that was the greatest gift. Now that im older and still playing baseball i noticed how it used to be about fun but now its all about winning and seeing how far you can get in your career; Since i have a older brother that is also big on baseball i got to watch him play and make his choices, this has helped me become better as a player and has helped me make better choices. One choice that he made that i am not making is highschool, he decided he wanted to go to a performing art school and hope they help him with baseball but they did the opposite and pretty much killed his baseball career, as i watched him and his struggles in this school i am deciding to go to a school for baseball knowing they can get me so much farther and help me reach my full potential. One thing i learned while going to my older brother games is almost none of the parents go anymore it almost seems like they see it as time that they have to them selves and just want to get away from there kid. I am very excited for highschool and getting farther in my baseball career but i hope my parents will be able to still go to my games.

coming of age book

My coming of age book was called speak.  This book is about her troubles in high school. The main charcter name is Melinda, she is the so called outcast of the school and just seem to fit in. Through out the book Melinda has trouble talking about her troubles and since she is the so called "outcast" she doesnt have many friends so its even harder for her to show her emotions. In the begging of the book there are some signs that Melinda is having trouble fitting in but the major mess up was, she went to a party and did something that would ruin her social life. 
      One of her troubles in high school is trying to fit in. The first example of Melinda not fiiting in is on page 5; she is standing in the center aisle of the auditorium trying to find a group to fit in with. When she doesnt find a place to sit she compares herself to a wounded zebra in a National Geographic and she comapred the jocks to preators.  Another example of her troubles fitting in is on page 136; on this page Melinda is at a party and some kids brought alchol, Melinda didnt know what to do so she called the cops and when everyone found out she was the one who called the cops and ruined the party everyone hated her even people she didnt know.  
      Another way Melinda is having troubles in highschool is what she thinks and does. One way Melinda deals with her troubles is by bitting her lips. For example on page 5 her ex bestfriend told her she hates her and Melinda bit her lips still they started to bleed. Another example is on page 136 where she calls the cops on her friends and when they found out she bit her lips again until the point that she needed to get stiches. Also Melinda is a keep to her self type of person, she doesnt talk about her promblems, Melinda parents have demanding jobs so she doesnt really talk to them about her promblems. When Melinda grades are going down her parents finally start doing something by making her stay after school every day but they never asked why she was doing bad or if anything was bothering her.  After reading for a little you learn her art teacher mr.freeman cares and wants to find out whats wrong with MElinda more then her parents do.
            In the book Melinda goes through lots of downs and has a very hard time in high school. As you go along in the book it almost seems like everything going to change for Melinda and she will stop being depressed but then something happens to change evrything. at the end of the book it is mr. freeman who she is talking to and mr. freeman was the one who cared the most for Melinda. The ending of the book you kind of had to guess what happened because it ends with Melinda talking to mr.Freeman and she about to tell him everything, once I finshed the book it had me thinking if after she told mr.freeman would evrything be all right or will she still be sad. I thought mr.freeman would help her and if they made a second book it would be about how she got more help and would start to fit in.
     

writing prompt

writing prompt #16
 What memorable texts (picture books,poems,oral stories, flims,etc) have influenced your definition of growing up?




One memorable text that I will never forget is a picture book, The 
Little Train That could . This book was the greatest book when I was little. This book influenced my definition of growing up because it thought me to always believe in my self and believing in your self as you get older is important because sometimes your the only person that can help and if you don't believe in your self then you wont accomplish anything. 
Another text that has had a influence me as I grew up was another picture book, The Tortoise and The Hare.  The book teaches you to never give up and not to be to cocky. This helps people not be to cocky, being cocky can be bad because if your applying for a job or something like that and your to cocky the people would not want to pick you. Also the book teaches you to never give up and thats good because if you dont give up on your dreams they may come true one day.
all the books that ive read as a child has impacted my coming of age.

3nd draft

Give a Boy a Gun

The independent reading book I am currently reading is Give a boy a Gun  by Todd Strasser. This book is based on a true story; the book is based on the Columbine massacre. On April 20, 1999 two boys brought guns to the schools dance and basically killed everyone in sight. Once they knew there was no way out they both killed those selves. 

       The reason the two boys did this was because they always got picked on and bullied by other students. . 
  Through out the book the two kids are talking about how they would get the guns and ammo and i realized it is very easy for kids to get guns.
the two kids got most there guns and ammo at a local walmart. when I found out that they got there wepons at walmart . I did some research and most walmarts sell guns and ammo. also if you go to gun shows they sometimes sell guns to people without a gun license, all you need is a vaild id. walmart excuse for selling guns is that it is made for hunting and they cant control what people do with it. I think walmart should be more careful  to who they sell guns to because this isnt the only time people killed others with guns bought at walmart.  
  This book is very interesting and very sad. If you are an emotional person then this would be a horrible book for you but if you like learning about tragedies in the past then you will love this book. 

revision

Give a Boy a Gun

The independent  reading book I am currently reading is Give a boy a Gun  by Todd Strasser. This book is based on a true story, the book is based on the columbine massacre. On april 20 1999 2 boys brought guns to the schools dance and basically killed everyone in sight. once they knew there was no way out they both killed them selves. 

       The reason the two boys did this was because they always got picked on and bullied by other students. Right now I am currently in the middle of the book but i've done some research on the massacre and one of the girls they killed was there only friend, the girls named was Rachael Scott, her funeral was the largest watched televised funeral in the world. I thought it was shocking that kids would go this far just because they got bulied. While reading the book I realized how hurt kids can get while being bulied even if its a little joke you never know how kids will react. This book is very intersting and very sad. If you are a emotional person then this would be a horrible book for you but if you like learning about tragedies  in the past then you will love this book.

reading book

The independent  reading book i am currently reading is Give a boy a Gun  by Todd Strasser. this book is based on a true story, the book is based on the columbine massacre. On april 20 1999 2 boys brought guns to the schools dance and basically killed everyone in sight. once they knew there was no way out they both killed them selves. The reason the two boys did this was because they always got picked on and bullied by other students. right now i am currently in the middle of the book but ive done some research on the massacre and one of the girls they killed was there only friend, the girls named was Rachael Scott her funeral was the largest watched televised funeral in the world. I thought it was shocking that kids would go this far just because they got bulied. While readin the book i realized how hurt kids can get while being bulied even if its a little joke you never know how kids will react. This book is very intersting and very sad if you are a emotional person then this would be a horrible book for you but if you like learning about tragedies  in the past then you will love this book.

comments

A really good post was nurshats poems. she put alot of creativity on nurshats blog every poem was perfect and you can tell she put a lot of effort in to them. the chose of words she choeses for each poems are just simple amazing.

Also Isaia post are very creativ. my favorite was the picture of the road with two paths. i think he really got to the meaning of the picture and made me think about it in a new way.

Also isabella post are very good because they go right to the meaning/point. also she is very creative with every post. also they flow very good.

Extra credit

High School

         Over the last couples of months High Schools have been a big part in the school year, Every student stressing over how they did in there auditions or how well written there essay was.  For me this expiernce has been very stressful and i cant wait to find out were i will be going. The High Schools i want to go to are mostly Baseball academies or private schools with a great baseball team. Unfortuanitly i mess the test for most private schools but i have been to most of the schools baseball evaluation and some schools really want me its just i might not be able to  afford the tuition fee so i many baseball coaches are talking to the schools to see if they can work out a scholar for me. 
         Also the public schools i audition for were very stressful the LAgurdia auditions were very intense, also it was weird because my brother goes there and they kept calling me little layne. At the auditions i saw around 4 people start crying because they thought they did bad.
          All this high School stuff is so hard i cant wait for it to be over.

poem

I HAVE A DREAM 


Five score years ago a Amwrican stands
Day break to end
and the long nights.
Then hundreds years later
I have a dream negros still free
We must  not ne guilty
But we must stand up for the people
I have a dream
I have a dream
NEGROS STILL FREEE
O loard I have a dream

authors note

Draft

             This is a realistic fiction book, but is based on true events. Did you know one out of four kids are getting bullied also 70% of students say bullying starts off with verbal abuse then gets more physical.

            In my experience I have never been bullied but I have seen kids get bullied and sometimes it gets out of control, sometimes teachers and parents just pass by and don’t say anything. Many bullies have problems so they take it out on other kids also they may have some family problems and are full of hate so they take it out on other kids.

           In my book they all become friends at the end; most of the time the bully doesn’t know he is actually hurting other kids in a physical way or mental way so if you are getting bullied tell your guardian and confront the bully because you never know you might become really good friends.

thanks to   http://www.pascack.k12.nj.us/70271919141818/lib/70271919141818/Bullying_Statistics.htm  12/11/10

research #2

http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/June-2010/Why-Are-Our-Taxes-So-High/

Another big problem that daily Americans are facing is taxes. taxes have grown a lot and it is not helping the houseless people ratio at all. Taxes is a very big topic in fact, you see on the news almost everyday. The reason for this is because every day people have to pay uncle sam and every day the government get more greedier/needier and they keep wanting to raise taxes but many people cant afford the taxes when they weren't that big now they are in dept of losing there house or going bankrupt.

research #1

http://www.worstpolluted.org/pollution-facts-2009.html


    The topic i will be writing about is, the pollution in america. I think the pollution in america has gone way to far.  America has become one of the most polluted  country and if everyone helps out just a little we can have fresher air, and cleaner streets. Most of the time you dont have to do much to help out  for example if you see trash on the streets pick it up and throw it out, also if you switch your light bulbs to the ones that are energy affect (the spiral looking one) it will help, not much but if everyone does it becomes a lot. Pollution is a big topic and i take a big interest in it so i this will be a good topic for me because i know many people with  asthma and sometime they cant go outside or they will have a hard time breathing because if all the pollution .

read and respond to songs and or poems on social promblems

Imagine 
John Lennon 
Imagine there's no Heaven 
It's easy if you try 
No hell below us 
Above us only sky 
Imagine all the people 
Living for today 

Imagine there's no countries 
It isn't hard to do 
Nothing to kill or die for 
And no religion too 
Imagine all the people 
Living life in peace 

You may say that I'm a dreamer 
But I'm not the only one 
I hope someday you'll join us 
And the world will be as one 

Imagine no possessions 
I wonder if you can 
No need for greed or hunger 
A brotherhood of man 
Imagine all the people 
Sharing all the world 

You may say that I'm a dreamer 
But I'm not the only one 
I hope someday you'll join us 
And the world will live as one 





This song has been played over and over again but it seems like no one listens to it. the main idea of the song is to take away everything that makes people have anger towards others  either for the religion and beliefs. If there were more people like John Lennon there would be no war or hate towards Anything and we would all live in peace. I think this song helped many people be more peaceful. This can be one of the greatest songs ever made.  

observe your surroundings

List of problems for new yorkers 

• Bills

• Air Pollution 

• Taxes

• Gas prices

• Transportation Fee 

• Lack of water

Transportation Fee

        If you haven't heard of the sky rocketing prices of the fees for trains/buses/bridges you have been living under a rock. The price of trains and buses have gone from 2.00 to 2.25 it may not seem like a big difference but  for many they could barley afford the 2.00 , also they are trying to raise the price again. If you have a car and  you dont need trains but you still have to pay for the cost of bridges, the cost of the Verrazano bridge is 11.00 and thats just to go to staten island.  If you think the cost of  is going up in Florida the average cost of a bridge is 2.25. Know why would New York have the most expensive Transportation fee, Its because the New York government is very greedy and always wants more... thats also why New York has bad economy compared to 5 years ago.      

media/news immersion

         this week i was watching world news and I saw some interesting news but my favorite was a riot in Palestinian. this happened at October 27,2010. This brings social awareness because the united states want to be a "city upon a hill" so we are now aware. A social action can be the united states trying to help out Palestinian by helping the government to contain the people so this doesn't happen again. the reason the riot happened  was they were marching to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the murder of the radical Rabbi Meir Kahane and to call for the outlaw of the Islamic Movement in Israel. I thought this is very shocking and the usa should try to do as much as possible so this never happens again.

mother to son

main idea


in the poem mother to son by langston hughes i think she is saying when life isn't perfect try and make the best of it, and keep pushing until everything works out. Also the mom is telling the son that her life isn't and never was perfect but she had to suck it up and make the best of it even if its not what you wanted. I think this is poem has a very strong meaning, and it is true sometimes you have to make the best of life even if your in a tough position.
 When reading this poem I remembered when I was 9 and me and my brother were messing around and long story short i ended up with 4 stitches in my head and it was horrible timing because i had the state test the next day, the next day i woke up a little dizzy but i didnt want to take the test on a make up day so I suck it up, took a children advil and went to school; it was one of the worst days but i still did good in the test which made it much better.

final piece

  

Appreciation

         While reading the giver I started to appreciate it in many way. In the giver I paid a lot more attention to the details then I did the first time I read the book. I also found many special things that Lois Lowry put into the book. In the book Lois Lowry Imagination is very notable.  I noticed Lois Lowry had a very unique imagination when she tells the reader about the world and the daily life of the people. Also Lois Lowry puts her own style of writing into the; with her emotion, and her dialogue.

           One way I appreciate Lois Lowry imagination is how crazy she makes the world.  when I first realized that the world in the book wasn’t like any other world, I was on page 3-4. Asher had to apologize to his class and ‘instructor’ for being late, he also had to give reasoning why he was late; when I read that , I knew that if I was late for school I would most likely try to make a excuse, and take a late mark or have my mom write a note. I wouldn’t ever have to ask for the ‘instructor’ to ‘accept my apologue’.

            Another way I appreciate The Giver , was Lois Lowry’s imagination on the characters. One character that you can tell Lois Lowry put a lot of effort in, is Jonas. I think is a character that stands out a lot, because he is the one that is different (he didn’t agree with the utopia. Jonas started to question just why they have to live like they do.  When they released one of the twins just because one was different, once this happens Jonas snaps and begins to led the rebellion.

            Lastly, in the giver I appreciate Lois Lowry style of writing. One way Lois Lowry style of writing is unique, is the emotion she puts into the book. In the book she adds many types of emotion, even though in the utopia no one has any emotion; Everyone lives life very dull. also Lois Lowry had very strong dialogue like the one on page 124-125, Jonas and the giver have a very meaningful talk,

             I am very happy to read the giver again and glad to be able to elaborate on it like I have, through the pass weeks. I am also glad that I had a chance to appreciate the book in many new ways.

Draft

Appreciation

While reading the Giver I started to appreciate it in many ways. In the Giver  I paid a lot more  attention to the details then I did the first time I read it. I found many speciall things that Lois Lowry put into the book.   In the book  Lois Lowry Imagination is very notable .  I noticed Lois Lowry had a very unique Imagination when she  tells the reader about the world and the daily life of the people. Also Lois Lowry puts her own style of writing into the book; With her emotion, and her diolage.               

          One way I appreciate Lois Lowry Imagination is how crazy she makes the world. When I first realized that the world in the book wasn’t like any other world, I was on page 3-4, When Asher had to apologizes his class and “instructor”  for being late, he also had to give reasoning how he was late; When I read that I thought if I was late to school I would probably try to make a excuse and take a late mark or have my mom write a note saying why I was late and I wouldn’t have to ask for the teacher to “accept  my apologue”.

           Another way I Appreciated the Giver was Lois Lowry Imagination on the characters.  One character that you can tell Lois Lowry put a lot of effort on is Jonas. I think Jonas is the Character that stands out the most because he is the one that is different and he was the one that didn’t agree with the utopia; Jonas also stated to question why they lived like they do and when they release one of the twins because he was different he snaps and led the rebellion.

           Lastly in the Giver I appreciated Lois Lowry Style of writing. One way Lois Lowry Style of writing was unique is the emotion she puts into the book; In the book she adds many type of emotion even though in the utopia no one has any emotion and lives life very dull. Also Lois Lowery had very strong diolage like the one on page 124-125 Jonas and the Giver have a very strong talk, it also has a lot of diolage going back and forth.

           I am very happy to read the giver again and glad to be able to elaborate on it like I have on the passed weeks. I am also glad that I had a chance to appreciate the book in many ways. 

interview of lois lowery

What led you to write The Giver?
In 1992, my mother and my father, both in their late 80s, were residents of the same nursing home in Staunton, VA. My mother was blind and very frail but her mind was completely intact. My father was healthier, physically, but his memory was going. I would frequently fly down from Boston to see them. On one particular visit, my mother wanted to tell me the stories about her life. I sat and listened to her talk about her childhood, her college years, and her marriage to my dad. In the course of retelling those anecdotes, she related the details about the death of her first child, my sister Helen, clearly her saddest memory. But she wanted to retell it.  /www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6448190.html
 
 I thought this was very intersting and very meaning ful. In this interview Lois Lowery talks about some things many dont like to talk about like the death of her sister. I can tell from this interview Lois Lowery is very strong and has many good stories. In the giver i can see how it relates to her real life and the things she went through

The Giver

The Giver

         In the Giver one of my favorite notes was about the Theme.  In the Giver  there are many themes like Death, Age , and Indivual vs. Society. I think Age is the main theme because it takes a big part in the book  When Jonas turns 12 he is suppopsed to see the Giver and When anyone turns 12 they have to do there job. Also if you are to old you will get realsed and if your a twin they can only keep one.  i am glad i got a chance to the read the giver again and get to talk/expand on it like we did.