Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Character Sketch of the Most Interesting Person I Know #10

One day in early fall I was reading a book and all of a sudden I heard running footsteps. My brother Dustin energetically threw my door open and said he had an emergency and told me to get downstairs immediately. Apparently I wasn't going fast enough because even though I weigh about 140 pounds he slung me over his shoulder and ran outside. We took a quad ride that day down to bait his stations. He had a huge whitetail deer that he had been tracking for weeks and was determined that he was going to get it.
During this he noticed that I was distant so he asked me what was going on. I told him about the rough day I had had at school and he listened intensely. When I got to the end of the story he predictedely gave me some good advice.
After we got back we had a cold pop and he made homemade spaghetti for me which is my favourite. Later he took me home. His truck which is always hard to get into was ten times worse because I was tired. He came up behind me and lifted me in.
Even though Dustin works extremely hard and has a limited amount of time off, he always makes time for family. This is his best trait.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Character Sketch #9

Eddie was in trouble. Finally, he had a book contract. The only thing was, he had no book. He had writer's block and it was not getting any better. One day Eddie ran into his old friend Vern. Vern and Eddie had coffee. While sipping on some fine cappuccino Vern noticed that Eddie was down. His clothes were ragged and his hair was long and stringy. He looked as though the last time he showered was a week ago. Vern asked him how his book was going and he said "not very good". Vern told him that he may have something that could help him. He slid a pill across the table and told him that if he took it everything would change.
Eddie thought long and hard and finally decided to try the pill. After that his whole life changed dramatically. The book he so struggled with was finished in four days. His confidence, which was never high, changed dramatically. He was now working as the CEO of a well known energy company. His girlfriend who he lost, has come back to him. He decides to quit the energy company and runs for congress. He was a favourite to win.



Practise Character Sketch #7

One day in the late spring my uncle gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to go for a horseback ride so we did. Although he had to come and get me and drive me back to his house, he did it anyway. He had to lift me up on the horse and lets face it I'm not too light. Although my uncle farms and has a lot on his plate and has many animals to look after, he still finds time to hang out with me. He is a sucker for his granddaughter. He gives her treats all the time, constantly plays with her and she follows him around like he is number one. His best quality is his care for his family. Family comes first. Although the dog is not allowed in the shop, he was going to allow it this one time so his granddaughter could play with it. Day in and day out he is a family man.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Limitless #8

In the movie "Limitless" the character that stuck out for me was Eddie. He started out as a low life with not much confidence and going nowhere. He started taking a pill that an old friend gave him and his whole life changed as he knew it. He got a new job, he finished the book that he was struggling to write and he started to get confidence in himself. He went from being no one to someone overnight.
The most important scene for character development was the scene when Eddie gets the job as CEO of Carl's energy company. He completely changes the company and also gets his girlfriend back. He becomes a millionaire and runs for congress. He quits Carl's company and gets off the drug. In the end he has enough confidence to stand up to Carl instead of doing what Carl tells him to do.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Character Development Example #6

In the movie "Soul Surfer" the main character is a pro surfer. Surfing is her life. She gets injured in a surfing accident that takes one of her arms off. After this she gives up on surfing and is very depressed. Her dad does not want her to give up on surfing and keeps trying to convince her to get back into it. In the meantime she goes down to Thailand after a tsunami to help out the needy children. She sees all the suffering and the families that have been torn apart. Even though these children have lost their homes and some have lost family members, they are still happy that people are there to help and looking at the positive side of things. During this experience she learns that maybe what happened to her is not so bad. This scene is the turning point for the character. It gives her renewed confidence and hope. When she returns back home she has a new determination to go back into surfing. She has some difficulty going back into surfing due to the fact that she only has one arm to work with. Her dad manages to build her a bar on the bottom of her board to keep her from falling off and drowning. She goes into the last competition of the tournament and although the buzzer is called just after she starts riding the biggest wave of the tournament she rides it anyway. This scene shows us that she is a very strong individual who is determined to prove to people who doubted her that she can still surf and is still the best. From this, all handicapped people learn that if you put you mind to something you can do anything. The writer of the show gets you tied to the character by bringing out the true tragedy of what happened and how she managed to change her perspective.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Character Development #5


The main character of the book “The Hunger Games” stood out to me very much so because she was saving her sister from competing in a game where she would surely die if she took part. She was portrayed as a caring person that did not want to take part in killing anyone. She grew up as the main provider of the family, who without her they would not have survived. She would do anything for her family including putting her own life in danger. The prospect of dying did not really bother her as long as it helped her family. The competitors saw a person who was athletic and would not stop until there was no energy left.

I read the book ”The Hunger Games”. There are these games where the only way to survive is to kill everyone else. The main character is the main provider for her family. Her family relies on her for food and without her they would die. She is forced to enter these games and does not wish to kill anyone however, throughout the book she is forced to save her own life by killing a person. Her and the other main character develop a love story to help them survive the games. The other main character actually falls in love with this girl during the games. She was not aware that he really loved her and thought is was just an act. In the beginning of the book she hated the other main character and wanted nothing to do with him. They were told that if they teamed up they could work together and both win the games. After they started working together she began to have feelings for him. As the book develops her feelings get stronger. Even with all of this going on she still worried about her family and what would happen to them if she does not survive.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce #4

I have listened to a lot of speeches throughout my career in school; some I liked and some I didn't. Mr. Gladwell's speech was one that I could relate to somewhat. His main points of the speech were that people like all different kinds of varieties of food, drink etc. There is no "one kind fits all" of anything. He talks about Pepsi and spaghetti sauce and how you have to make more than one variety to please everyone. I agree with this point and compare it to how people learn. There are many varieties of ways to learn things. I am more of an auditory learner. I learn best by listening whereas other people may learn better by doing hands on things. His next point was that people don't really know what they want. He made this point by mentioning mustard and that there are only two kinds. People thought they were happy with the mustard until they came up with gourmet mustard that cost more. I also agree with this because people will go with name brand clothing because it is more expensive and they think it is the best which it not always is. There is no one right way to do things. Malcolm puts it as there is more than one way to make a recipe. I agree with this because I like homemade spaghetti sauce compared to the stuff in the jars. The final point of his speech was to embrace people for their differences. He used coffee as an example. Not everyone likes the same coffee. I also agree with this point. The reason I say this is lots of my friends like Fords, but they are pieces of garbage. I prefer Dodge. Thats why they make so many kinds of trucks so they make everybody happy. This speech was kind of weird for me because I hate spaghetti, however a lot of his points made sense and now I understand why we watched it. Personally I would enjoy watching more of Malcolm Gladwell's speeches in the future.