25 random facts about me!

1. My last name has an accent on the A.
2. I am half Spanish.
3. I have lived in Maryland my whole life.
4. The only school I ever went to before JC was Harford Day School. I went there for 9 years.
5. I bite my nails
6. I wish my hair was a different color
7. I've been playing tennis for 8 years and I was the only freshman on Varsity.
8. I used to play the violin and harp.
9. My favorite color is baby blue
10. I never make my bed
11. I like to be on time.
12. I have been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans twice.
13. I have sprained my ankle 11 times. I got surgery 2 summers ago.
14. Sweet tea is my favorite drink
15. I never make a new years resolution because i know I'll never keep it.
16. I hate blowing my nose in front of people.
17. My favorite type of music is Rap.
18. My favorite rapper is Eminem.
19. I want to go to Tulane University In New Orleans for college.
20. My eyes are brown.
21. I'm always listening to music.
22. I love to write in pen when something is under the paper.
23. I wear a lot of bracelets.
24. I'm really good at writing.
25. English is my favorite class and the only class I really enjoy.

Character Profile: Anna

http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/The_Playlist/more/my-sisters-keeper-soundtrack.jpg

Name of Character and family relationship: Anna is the daughter of Brian and Sara. Kate is her sister.

Age and Description: She is 13. Skinny with freckles.

Profession in life: student

Personality traits: strong, adult like, outgoing, kind, smart, responsible

Interests and hobbies: Hockey

Quirks:  She is different around certain people. She acts shy and defenseless around her mom and protective around her sister. She acts strong around Julia and Campbell.

Who character is closest to in story: Kate


"You seem pretty worried about your sister right now," I point out. "Are you sure you're ready to face what's going to happen if you stop being a donor? "I know what's going to happen." Anna's voice is low. "I never said I liked it." She raises her face to mine, challenging me to find fault with her. (page 111)

Similies: figure of speech in which 2 things that arent alike are compared by like or as

• Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed. (11) 
• It smells like the sweaty tongue of a hockey skate (14).
• When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. (20)
• Where your whole life stretches out ahead of you like a forked road. (21)
• It is exactly the kind of case I avoid like the Black Plague. (25)

Metaphor: figure of speech similar to a similie but doesn't use like or as

• Flames are licking at your heels you've got to break a wall or two if you want to escape.(13)
• Lately, I have been having nightmare, where I'm cut into so many pieces that there isn't enough of me to be put back together (13)
• The four-hour surgery isn't a walk in the park, either- you have a 1 in 3,000 chance of dying on the operation table. (50) 
• When she is tied to the bed, I am her eyes and ears. (58)
• A heroin-thin boy with enough rings in his eyebrows to resemble a shower curtain rod approaches with a pad.  (91)

theplaylist.blogspot.com

       In someways, I consider myself a keeper. My friend has an aunt who had Down Syndrome. Down syndrome is a genetic disorder, associated with the presence of an extra chromosome 21, characterized by mild to severe mental retardation (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Down+syndrome). Because of what she has, she is unable to take care of herself. My friend and her 2 sisters play a lot of sports and are alwasy running around. I know that it can be challanging for them to be bringing there aunt around with them because she is older and she gets tired quickly. For those reasons I will sometimes babysit her in a way. I go over to her house and watch her. We play games sometimes. 

My Sisters Keeper

http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/my_sisters_keeper_m.jpg

      In the first couple chapters of My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult, a lot happens. Anna is trying to get medical emancipation from her parents. Her sister has an aggressive stage Leukemia. Her parents had Anna so that she could be "her sisters keeper." They use Anna when her sister needs something to help her get better, like  a kidney or a bone marrow transplant. Anna doesn't want to go through that anymore, even if it means losing her sister. Since i've already read the book, I already know what to expect.

Elena 

Mrs. Zurkowski

Greens

4/11/11

A hero dies alone, in the wild.

A story of living in the wild.

As Krakaeur once stated in his controversial novel Into the Wild “McCandless had tried to disguise the fact that he was a drifter living out of a backpack” (41). Chris never tried to get attention to him by living in the wild; he did what he wanted to do. He never thought about the fame that could come of him or that his story could be so inspirational to so many people.  Chris had it all: a college degree, money, friends and family, but clearly, that’s not what he wanted the most. When Chris went into the wild, he wasn’t just going because of society but he was going because it was always his dream to climb to Alaska and to be away from society.  I strongly believe that Chris McCandless was an inspiration to many people and that he wasn’t crazy for doing what he did.

            Chris McCandless never relied on other people for help. “When he died, McCandless was wearing a blue sweatshirt printed with the logo of a Santa Barbara towing company; when contacted, the wrecking outfit professed to know nothing about him or how he’d acquired the shirt”(99). He always denied the gifts people tried to give him because he wanted to truly live off the wild. He was truly a man of his word because he said that he wouldn’t accept gifts and that he wanted to be by himself to finally live his dream. As soon as he got to the location he wanted to be at, he took all his money and burned it. He then left his car and walked into the wild. “He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigation aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station” (5).

            Chris McCandless never wanted publicity or asked for it. He went out by himself. He did not tell anyone where he was going. However, he hinted to Carine, his sister that he would be leaving. He didn’t want anyone to know but he wanted his family to know that he was safe. He even lied about where he was from. “Because McCandless had told Gallien he was from South Dakota, the troopers immediately shifted their search therefor the hiker’s next of kin” (99). He really didn’t want people to know where he was from or why he was doing what he was doing. When he arrived at Bullhead City he changed his name to “Alexander Supertramp” so people wouldn’t recognize him and he wouldn’t draw attention to himself. This represented him wanting to start over. He didn’t want his true identity to be known to anyone.

            Chris McCandless truly had a passion for being in the wild. “He could be alone without being lonely” (107). He went out into the wild and left his family when he found out his father had another family.  Chris loved being independent and had strong opinions. Just like everyone has dreams, Chris’s dream was to live off the land and to hike to Alaska.

            While Chris appeared like he was unprepared and not there all the way “he wasn’t a total space cadet or anything, don’t get me wrong. But there were gaps in his thinking” (63). I understand how people said that he was unprepared and not fit to go into the wild but I don’t understand how it was any of their concern. It’s not like he went out there and harmed anything or anyone. Even when he was dying, he didn’t start a fire just because he didn’t want to run the risk of burning down the forest. People need to realize that he brought no harm by going into the wild.

            I think Chris McCandless was a true hero. He went into the wild, by himself with no one to rely on, no money, and barely any food and survived for quite some time. He lived and worked with people for the money, but never took anything for free. He never asked anyone for help, besides car rides if they were going in the direction he was. He tried not to get to attached to the people he met because he knew he would have to leave them eventually. I think Chris was truly a tragic hero and his life came to an end to soon. Whoever is reading this, I want you to consider your life and if you would risk it? Will you try and live your dreams like Chris did? Maybe not by climbing to Alaska, but small goals. I think everyone should look up to Chris because he truly is an inspiration. “Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life” (129).

           

Characterization Traits of Christopher McCandelss

Direct and Indirect Characterization Notes on Christopher McCandless

(Alex Supertramp)

Chapter and page #	Description/quote from novel	What impression you get about Chris with this character trait or description?
Chapter 1, page 4 Chapter 1, page 5	“Five feet seven or eight with a wiry build, he claimed to be 24 years old and said he was from South Dakota.  He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and ‘live off the land for a few month.” “He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigation aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station.”	Chris is not physically fit for walking into such a dangerous environment.  He seems a little crazy. He doesn’t have enough equipment to make it in the wild
Chapter 2, page 13 Chapter 2, page 10	“Chris McCandless had been dead for two and a half weeks” “These days it isn’t unusual for six or seven months to pass without the bus seeing a human visitor, but in early September 1992, six people in three separate parties happened to visit the remove vehicle on the same afternoon”	He died.
Chapter 3, page 16 Chapter 3, page 16	“McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer.” “There was something arresting about the yougster’s eyes. Dark and emotive, they suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage-greek, marybe, or Chippewa- and conveyed a vulnerability that made Westerberg want to take the kid under his wing.”	He was small  and probably wasn’t fit to go out into the wild.
Chapter 4, page 27 Chapter 4 page 27	“Ignoring posted warning that off road driving is strictly forbidden, McCandless steered the Datsun off the pavement where it crossed a broad, sandy wash” “I kind of wondered why nobody ever showed up to reclaim it.”	It shows that he didn’t care about the rules and that he didn’t think he would ever come back, or get out alive. Chris was dead so he couldn’t reclaim it.
Chapter 5, page 39 Chapter 5 Page 41	“On the face of it, bullhead city doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would appeal to an adherent of Thoreau and Tolstoy” “McCandless had tried to disguise the fact that he was a drifter living out of a backpack”	They never thought that chis would be able to live there. He didn’t want people to know that he was homeless.
Chapter 6, page 55 Chapter 6, Page 51	“Wearing jeans and a wool sweater, McCandless looks tan, strong.” “he was confined that he was building his time until spring, when he intended to go to Alaska and embark on an ultimate adventure.”	He looked tan and strong. He didn’t tell anybody where he was going.
Chapter 7, page 63	“Alex wasn’t a total space cadet or anything, don’t get me wrong. But there were gaps in his thinking”	Westerburg said he was off beat but smart.
Chapter 10, page 99 Chapter 10, page 99	“When he died, McCandless was wearing a blue sweatshirt printed with the logo of a santa Barbara towing company; when contacted, the wrecking outfit professed to know nothing about him or how he’d acquired the shirt.” “Because McCandless had told Gallien he was from South Dakota, the troopers immediately shifted their search therefor the hikers next of kin”	He wasn’t wearing clothes suitable for what conditions he was living under.
Chapter 11, page 107 Chapter 11, page  107	" He could be alone without being lonely" "Chris was fearless, even when he was little."	He was self-sufficient. He never ever really listened to anyone and was always fearless, just like he is today.
Chapter 12 page 125 Chapter 12, page 124	“ We were all worried when we didn’t hear from  him” “Chris seldom contacted his parents that year, and because he had no phone, they couldn’t easily contact him.”	They were worried and probably figured he died. He didn’t like to talk to his parents and he didn’t have a way to.
Chapter 13 page 128 Chapter 13 page 129	"Chris didn't think twice about risking his own life, but he never would have put Buckley in any kind of danger." “Chris and Carine were uncommonly close.”	He wouldn’t have risked the dog, Bucley’s life.
Chapter 16 page 158 Chapter 16 page 162	“Alex was clean-shaven and had short hair, and I could tell by the language he used that he was a real sharp fella. He wasn’t what you’d call a typical hitchhiker.” “The heaviest item in McCandless’s half-full backpack was his library: nine or ten paperbound books, most of which had been given to him by Jan Burres in Niland.”	Chris McCandless kept himself up. He took care of himself. He also liked to read a lot.
Chapter 17 page 173 Chapter 17 page 174	“Unlike McCandless however, I have in my backpack a topographical map" “Because he had no topographic map he had no way of seeing that salvation was close at hand.- in 1992 however there were no more blank spots on the map. But Chris came up with an elegant solution to the idea, get rid of the map.”	It showed that he wasn’t prepared really because he didn’t bring something as basic as a map.
Chapter 18 page 198 Chapter 18 page 199	"Chris would never, ever, intentionally burn down a forest, not even to save his life. Anybody who would suggest otherwise doesn't understand the first thing about my brother.” “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all”	Even if it meant he had to die, he wouldn’t hurt the wilderness or anything else. Chris was happy with his life, even when things were rough. He was very thankful.