Into the Wild Author Bio

John Krakauer was born in Brookline Massachusetts.  He was then raised in Corvallis Oregon.  When he was eight his father introduced mountaineering.  He went to Corvallis High School where he graduated in 1972.  He went to Hampshire College and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science in 1977.  He married Linda Mariam Moore in 1980, who was a mountain climber.  They lived in Seattle Washington, then moved to Boulder Colorado.  In 1983 he became a full-time writer.  He has now written six famous books.

Into the Wild Preliminary Summary

Into the wild is a book about a writer who finds the body of a young man in an abandoned bus.    He found that there was a journal with him.  How he died is unknown, but there are theories.  His journal told his adventure in detail.  The two years after he graduated from college he spent wandering in the wilderness while eating wild plants and shooting game for food.  This writer that found him traveled the root that the dead man took. He then wrote an article about it.  The book is an extension of the article.  They have even made a movie that they adapted about it.

Fish Fights: A Hall of Fame Quest by Bob Rich. Will he make it?

Picture From: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT68QlTcUny445p5l36cvegVq4bSkT8CnisP13V8xW5sYbpSdhQ

This is a good book is an excelent book tells a story of a man by the name of Bob Rich who wants to get in to the Fishing Hall of Fame by completing a challenge that no one has never accomplished.  This is a challenge by the MET in Florida.  This challenge requires him to catch many different species of saltwater fish with different types of tackle.  He meets many different people along the way.  He also has many epic fights and struggles with powerful fish.

Edgar Allan Poe Blog (1-9: Me, 10-18: Nick)

1.       Born on Jan. 19, 1809 in Boston Mass.  Died on October 7, 1849.

http://poestories.com/biography.php 

2.        Poe’s mother separated from her husband and died when Poe was two.  Poe was adopted by a rich family and went to good schools.  His father didn’t give him enough money in college when he went to Virginia University so Poe went into dept when he began drinking a lot.  http://poestories.com/biography.php

3.       Beating, Murder, Diabetes, Rabies, Heart, Epilepsy,

http://www.poemuseum.org/life-death.php

4.       Poe considered Richmond his home according to the museum  in Richmond.

http://www.poemuseum.org/life-richmond.php

5.       The Poe Society of Baltimore agrees with the Richmond museum’s statement they say Baltimore represents the beginning and end of his life.

http://www.eapoe.org/balt/poebalt.htm

6.       West Point Military Academy

http://poestories.com/biography.php

7.       Poe married Virginia Clemn when she was 13.

http://poestories.com/biography.php

8.       This marriage may sound crazy but back in those days this type of marriage happened quite often.

9.       Murder of the Rue Morgue was Poe’s first detective story.

http://poestories.com/stories.php

10.          When were "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" written?

                The black cat was written in 1843 and his tell-tale-heart was written in 1843 as well.

11.            When was "The Raven" published?

               The raven was published in January 1845.

12.            Check out the Poe photo gallery. Which picture looks most like the Poe you envision while reading his stories?

                 http://medchrome.com/extras/stories/berenice-by-edgar-allan-poe/

13.          Post a comment in the Edgar Allan Poe forum about your favorite Poe story. Print it out and attach it.

                 See back

14.           Sign the guestbook at Poestories.com

15.           Summarize at least two Poe short stories you have never read.

              This story appeared in the New York Sun in 1844 and claimed to have details about a group of men that successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a new type of balloon. Although it looked like a real story, created entirely from Poe's imagination.

                Poe invented the detective story with this tale. The main character is C. Augusta Dupin, that solves crimes by deduction. Two women have been brutally murdered and it appears that there was no way in or out of the room where the murders took place.

16.           Listen to the audio version of the Raven. What do you think of it?

                I didn’t not really like raven just on how this was written with the wordings and other things that were brought up.

17.            Who is the Poe Toaster?

                Poe toaster is the mysterious person who visited the grave of Edgar Allen Poe on his birthday.

18.           List five examples of "Poe in Your Life."

                Poe is in my life because I read his books, enjoys mysteries, could be mysterious, enjoys righting in the dark phase and things change a lot in my family as it did in his. 

Picture From: http://ts3.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=283087419858&id=495173d63f64365b40331ea8a5cdddce&index=ch1

O'Henry

- Birthday is September 11, 1862
- Death date is June 5, 1910
- Died at age 47
- Well known for surprise endings in his suspenseful short stories
- Has an award named after him
- His real name is William Sydney Porter
- O'Henry is his pen name
- Worked for a Bank
- Worked as an editor for Rolling Stone
- Was married
- Was a heavy drinker
- O'Henry robbed the bank he worked in and ran to Honduras
- When his wife was terminally ill he went back to Austin Texas and was locked up

- He started writing in prison and was released in 1901

2nd Quarter Time

The second quarter is here and so is fall.  We are doing short stories now and they are better than just writing research papers and and about my summer reading book.  Short stories can be fun.  There are writers like Edgar Allen Poe with dramatic, suspense, and horror stories.  Welcome back.

Position Research Paper

Kevin Davies 

Mrs. Zurkowski

Reds

1 October 2010          

Bullying

            Bullying is a huge problem in our society and there is one thing everyone agrees on about it.  It needs to be fixed and gotten rid of.  Though no-one wants bullying or to be bullied, not everyone agrees on how to get rid of it and if enough is being done.  Bullying was not really emphasized until there were law-suits filed against schools because they did not do anything to stop bullying.  There have also been law-suits filed against the bullies and their parents.  The Columbine school shooting also got a lot of attention.  Two students killed 13 people in their school and then committed suicide because they were bullied.  There was a program started by the father of the first student killed called Rachel’s Challenge to discourage bullying.  Schools are doing a lot to stop bullying however, they should not have jurisdiction over bullying situations outside of school, and if kids are bullied they should be able to defend themselves in any way needed.

            There are a lot of things being done to stop, discourage, and enforce rules against bullying.  One example of bullying is a law legislators agreed to put into effect in Illinois.  Schools are bringing in programs that specialize in anti-bullying.  An example of one of these programs is Rachel’s Challenge which encourages people to start a chain reaction of kindness.  Studies show that the environment that people are in influence how much bullying is done and what the chosen method of bullying is.  There has been a lot of increase in supervision in places of common bullying like, locker rooms, hallways, cafeterias, and on campus after school.  Experts say, “Understanding the full measure of bullying is especially important now as states, districts, and federal education officials step up their efforts to combat the scourge in schools,”(Viadero).  Therefor a huge effort is being made to stop, and control bullying and to help victims of bullying.

            Schools should not have jurisdiction over bullying situations outside of school that don’t affect anything in school.  For example, cyber-bullying is happening more often now that kids get hold of technology much easier.  When the cyber-bullying is carried into school or affects a victims grades then schools can have jurisdiction.  Schools do not need an extra thing to worry about especially when it has nothing to do with their business.  Things like figuring out anonymous cyber-bullies is not what teachers should be paid to do when they should not have jurisdiction.  Everyone knows “consequences can be devastating and even deadly,”(Mehta).  Schools should not have to deal with extra issues that make jobs hectic,  and hectic jobs usually sloppy, poor jobs.  The fight against bullying can not be messed up.

            Bullying can be and is often extremely harsh so kids should be able to defend themselves in any way.  A lot of times both the student and bully get in trouble when the victim defends himself/herself against the bully.  Bullying has ended in death for both the bully and victim.  There have been cases when the bully kills the victim.  There have even been cases when the bully dies in a fight he/she starts with the victim.  Bullies will die trying to kill a victim.  There are also verbal situations when the victim gets abused and should be able to verbally defend himself/herself.  Victims of bullying should not have to just take bullying, but they should have the rite of defense.

            “What good is passing laws against "bullying" if states aren't doing much to enforce them?”(McClatchy), some say.  A lot of people say with all of the bullying, and the low amount of  bullying reported by authorities, rules against bullying are not enforced.  Bullying can be hard to prove, especially cyber-bullying.  Most kids don’t report bullying.  Bullying is also very hard to catch.  Rules against it are enforced.  More teachers are starting to care for their students.  Bullies are being severely punished for their actions.  Often times penalties involve being suspended and expelled.  Rules against bullying are being enforced in most schools.

            Some say there has not been a lot of progress made against bullying.  They say not everybody is pushing hard enough against bullying.  This is not true.  Not only are schools pushing hard against bullying, but legislators are too.  There are even laws being made.  Forty-four states already have laws against bullying.  All of them require policies to be written.  Policies are constantly being updated to adapt to current situations.

            Bullying is a very big issue that must be fixed.  Everyone has to do something about it.  This includes teachers that need to pay attention to students and discourage bullying.  Students need to stand up to bullies.  Parents need to discourage bullying.  Legislators need to keep pushing for better laws.  Being involved is important.  Kids should be able to defend themselves inside of school where there is a lot being done to stop bullying, and outside of school where schools shouldn’t have jurisdiction.

Works Cited

Mehta, Seema. "Meaner Bullying Is Stirring New Tactics." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA). 07 Mar 2008: B.1. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Sep 2010.

"Schools Need to Follow Through Against Bullying." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 05 Oct 2009: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 28 Sep 2010.

Viadero, Debra. "Studies Probe 'Ecology' of Bullying." Education Week Vol. 29, No. 32. 19 May 2010: 1-3. SIRS Researcher. Web. 24 Sep 2010.