My Journey With Reading and Writing :: Education Teaching

My Journey With Reading and Writing There have not been many obstacles that have gotten in my way for me to be a successful reader. I am able to confidently read "Hope in the Unseen" because it keeps my interest. I like the story. I feel for Cedric. I imagine and picture the story in my mind. When a large amount of reading is assigned, sometimes my brain gets exhausted and I have to take a break. Literally my brain gets tired. The reason why I have trouble getting all of my assignments in for "Writing and Being" is because the book does not hold my interest. I find it boring at times. I really like "Higher Learning" because the stories are like short stories, and they are adventurous in a weird way. I have gained some insight from certain readings. "Who Shall I Be" really struck me in a good way. It talks about the reality of positive and negative consequences resulting from some sort of change. Changes can be dangerous at times. Not physically, but mentally. I guess it could be physical in some situations. I feel I have become a more mature reader since high school. Reading experience leads to reading success. That’s my opinion. I used to not be able to focus when I read, but you just have to stick it out and read and read and read. I feel I am a focused reader now, I try hard. I have also gained mental reading confidence. You break that down. The greatest difficulty that I came across doing the first essay was retracing the past, retracing the sadness. Having to bring back sad memories that made my life terrible at the time. Doing the essay, I learned that I have gone through a lot of crap. I was sinking in quicksand and now I stand on the quicksand like it is rock solid. I am proud of myself. I was able to turn my life around and be the person that I am today. I might have the potential to be a good writer someday. People compliment on my writing skills every now and then when I write something long. That makes me feel like a real student. I say that because an old History teacher of mine used to tell kids to be students when they were not doing their work. My biggest concern these days, is whether I will be able to survive in college.

Alternative Energy Research Paper

Within the next few years, one can expect to see a vast change in the way that mankind harnesses energy. Alternative fuels will play a colossal role in what has become one of our generation’s largest challenges, limited supplies of fossil fuels. Scientists have been working for years to develop alternative methods to power the globe given that materials such as coal and oil are not renewable resources. Once they are used up, they are gone forever. New forms of energy have to be developed but what other sources are there and where will each work best?With fuel prices increasing every year and the theory that CO2 emissions from coal and petroleum products are heating up the globe, other resources of energy are being developed and put into use around the world. One of the new resources that is being put to use is wind energy. This particular type of energy is based on the old concept of windmills that used to be used on farms. When the wind blows it causes the blades on the windm ill to spin. This spinning in turn, spins a turbine inside of a small generator. That action creates electricity. Although windmills are fantastic, they are not practical everywhere.Wind turbines need to have at least a 14 mph wind speed in order to do any good( Wind Power). Unfortunately this is not found everywhere. So wind turbines must be put only in places that remain consistently windy. The wind farms are also built in areas that are wide open with flat terrain. Iowa is now home to over 600 wind turbines (Wind Power). This number of wind turbines produces enough electricity to power about 140,000 homes. Minnesota and Wisconsin are also putting the technology to use in there windy locations. Some schools in Iowa are even using these wind turbines to power their schools (Wind Power).And when it comes to size on these, bigger is most definitely better. The higher that the turbine is, the more wind that it reaches, thus, creating more electricity. At the flying Cloud wind plant in northeast Iowa the wind turbines are about 240 feet tall. The largest wind turbine in the world is located in Hawaii, it stands 20 stories tall and has blades the length of a football field. The tower which holds the blades of the turbine high in the air is hollow and made of steel. The blades are made of a lighter material called fiberglass and polyester (WindPower). So in all, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. A fan uses electricity to create wind. But a wind turbine uses wind to create electricity. The key is making sure that we put them in the correct locations where there is a substantial enough breeze for the wind turbines to operate. Water power or hydroelectric power has been yet another alternative resource of energy that has proven to be very efficient. Hydroelectricity is generated by the force of falling water. This method has been proven to be one of the cleanest and safest ways to produce energy.It is also extremely reliable and cost the least out of all ene rgy resources. This means that the customers who are operating under this source of power pay very little compared to some other resources. Hydroelectric power is very similar in concept to that of the wind turbine. But instead of the wind spinning the blades, with this, it’s the force of the water. Water is held behind a dam forming an artificial lake. The enormous force of the water from the reservoir through the dam is what spins the blades on the giant turbine (Hydroelectric Power).The turbine is connected to a generator that will create electricity as it spins. Once the water has passed through the turbine spinning the blades to create electricity the water then flows back into the river on the other side of the dam (Hydroelectric Power). Energy resources like this one have proven to be very productive in the past couple of years, creating power for millions of homes every year. Things like this are a huge step in the right direction when it comes to gaining energy indep endence and protecting the environment. Hydroelectric power is limited to areas that have larger masses of water such as rivers.One of the most common alternative energy resources that is getting more popular with every passing year is solar energy. Solar energy has been used by humans for thousands of years. People would use it to help start fires or to keep their houses warm. But it was not until 1839 that photovoltaic activity was first shown by Edmond Becquerel. He noticed that certain materials, when exposed to light, could increase their electrical current (History of solar energy). In 1905 Albert Einstein clearly described the photoelectric effect, which is the principle on which photovoltaic is based.In 1954, scientists found that silicon found in sand created an electric charge when it was exposed to sunlight. The first long term practical use of solar cells was in that of a satellite called Vanguard 1 in 1958. This satellite was powered completely by the sun and proved jus t how efficient that solar electricity could become. After the energy crisis in the 1970’s, people began to realize how dependent we were on non- renewable resources and solar energy as a result became much more popular (History of solar energy).Solar comes from the Latin word for sun. The sun has proven to be the most powerful source of energy. If we could somehow harness all of the sun’s energy hitting the earth for just one hour, it would meet the energy needs of the entire world for a solid year (Energy Kids Page). We can use solar power as a heat source and as an energy source. Solar panels on a house could be used to heat water or air, or it can be used as a primary energy source. In the United States alone, more than 10,000 families get all of their electricity from the sun (Energy Kids Page).Silicon from just one ton of sand, used in photovoltaic cells, could produce as much electricity as burning 500,000 tons of coal (Energy Kids Page). The downside to solar e nergy however, is that it is quite expensive to make a lot of electricity using photovoltaic’s. A lot of open land is also required to have enough cells to make a substantial amount of energy. For this reason, there are few big power plants in the United States, most of them located in California. Biomass energy is another energy resource that we could begin to see more of in the years to come.Biomass is a term for natural energy. When Biomass is burned, it releases heat, this heat creates energy (Biomass Energy). If you’ve ever camped out in the back yard and had a campfire going, the action of burning logs was creating biomass energy. Biomass energy is the burning of natural materials such as trees, and plants to create heat, and then electricity (Biomass Energy). Waste products, such as trash can also be burned to create biomass energy. Biomass energy just so happens to be the most common form of renewable energy being used in the United States today.We create enoug h energy through the burning of biomass materials here in the United States to power over two million homes (Biomass Energy). In Iowa, some farms are growing switch grass on their land. They then sell that to the power companies who then burn it with coal to create steam for the generators which creates electricity. Energy can also be harnessed out of decomposing garbage. It puts off a gas called methane which is captured by a micro turbine and uses it to run a small jet engine which creates electricity (Biomass Energy). Nuclear energy is the most ommon of all the alternative energy resources. â€Å"Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Atoms are tiny particles that make up every object in the universe. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold atoms together. Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity. But first the energy must be released. It can be released from atoms in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. In nuclear fusion, energy is rel eased when atoms are combined or fused together to form a larger atom (Energy Resources-Nuclear Power).This is how the sun produces energy. In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy (Energy Resources-Nuclear Power). Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity. Nuclear energy produces around eleven percent of the world’s energy. Nuclear power is made by nuclear fission. This heats water to create steam. The steam produced turns the turbines and then the turbines run the generator. At the very end of the line, the generator produces the electricity that will be sent to millions of homes and businesses.Some of the major advantages of nuclear power are that it costs about the same as coal, so it is not very expensive to make. It does not produce any carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses, so it is environmentally safe. It is a very reliable resource as well. The major disadvantage to nuclear power is the fact that it is extremely dangerous. It must be sealed up and buried for many thousands of years to make sure that all radioactivity has faded. Although it is very reliable, a lot of money has to be spent on safety.Nuclear energy from Uranium is not renewable, once we’ve mined and used all of the Uranium, it is gone forever. So although it is a very efficient way of producing electricity, the risks are a significant concern. In conclusion we can see that there is a plethora of ways to power the globe. Whether it is from the tall towers of the wind turbines, the immense pressure from the dams, the heat of the sun, the burning of all wastes and other biomass materials, or the dangers of splitting the atom to create nuclear energy, all of these resources have proven to be very effective.The answer may be to use them all together, utilizing each where it is most appropriate. Together these resources will help to dramatically alter the way that we harness energy for many years to come.Works Ci ted â€Å"Energy Resources-Nuclear Power. † Nuclear Power-Energy from splitting Uranium atoms 4 Nov 2008 . â€Å"Wind Power. † Wind Power 4 Nov 2008 . â€Å"Energy Kids Page. † Nuclear Energy (Uranium) Energy from atoms 4 Nov 2008 . â€Å"Hydroelectric Power. † tvakids. com. 4 Nov 2008 . â€Å"History of solar energy. † Solar Energy Information. 6 Nov 2008 . â€Å"Biomass Energy. † Allianate Energy Kids. 6 Nov 2008 .

What Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay - 1886 Words

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? The Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, also referred as PTSD, is classified as a psychiatric disorder that is caused by experiencing or witnessing life-threatening events (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). Several examples of life- threatening events include military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). Individuals that suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder continue to relive the experiences through â€Å"nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping and feel detaches or estranged,† which can prolong for a short time or get worse over time (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). There are three different types of symptoms that can help identify PSTD: re-experiencing the trauma, avoiding certain places and people that remind them of the trauma, and an increase of emotional arousal (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). When reliving a traumatic experience, an individual can become upset when they think about or confronted with the event which will affect their everyday life. A traumatic reminder can range from a veteran combat hearing fireworks to a rape victim seeing a news report of a recent sexual assault, causing a terrible flashback to the event (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). Another symptom of PTSD is the intention to avoid any situation that can trigger flashbacks to the traumaticShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?977 Words   |  4 PagesWHAT IS POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER? What is post-traumatic stress disorder? Dr. Shira Maguen defines it as an anxiety disorder that may develop after an individual is exposed to one or more traumatic events.(Maguen 2008). In war situations military service members are exposed to many potential traumatic events. They could be put in life threatening danger or could be seriously injured. Witnessing a traumatic event such as a comrade being killed can also affect a service member. To be diagnosedRead MoreWhat Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?2151 Words   |  9 PagesAugusto Gutierrez ENGLISH 1303 Instructor Zachary Turpin October 20, 2014 What is Post Traumatic Stress (PTS)? What are the effects and why should it not be considered a disorder? What is Post traumatic Stress Disorder or more commonly known as PTSD? It is unfortunately an affliction that has been generalized to a veteran issue as a negative side effect of enlistment and deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, it is the â€Å"Agent Orange† of my generation. 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The Diag-nostic and Statistical Man-ual of Mental disorders lis-ts eight criterion for this widespread mental dis-ease, including a stressor, meddling symptoms, ev-asion, amendments in provocation and react-ivity, and a duration of symptoms for more than a month. PTSD is often characterized by disrupt-ions in sleep patterns, with the traumatic eventRead MorePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Causes Symptoms and Effects Essay1382 Words   |  6 Pagesor suffered from a Traumatic Brain Injury during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. What this number does not include are the 39,365 cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (more commonly known as PTSD). (Department 2009) Although we usually think of war injuries as being physical, one of the most common war injuries is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the effects can be devas tating to a redeploying soldier who has come in contact with severely traumatic experiences. PTSDRead More Sexual Assault Among Women In the United States Essay1239 Words   |  5 Pagesdegrees of depression, anxiety, and clinical stress. An issue to look at is how much control a victim of sexual assault has over her reaction. How much control can a woman have over repressing her emotions? How much of control does a woman have over her physical response to trauma? Furthermore what is the relationship between the mind and body? If a woman tries to repress her psychological response, does she develop a physical reaction? One type of disorder that develops among many women who have experiencedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder980 Words   |  4 Pageswhy is it that past events are the triggers that cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or undergoing a dangerous event. There are various symptoms that begin to show or actions that can give a clear answer whether one may be diagnosed wi th this disorder. One of the many problems is that no age range is safe from suffering PTSD. One must ask themselves what set of events happened at that time to cause this disasterRead MorePtsd Is An Abbreviation For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay1282 Words   |  6 Pagessymptoms of this disorder. They have proven themselves to be more than just an animal. Post-traumatic stress disorder dogs are far beyond just man’s best friend; they protect the protectors far after the wars end. First of all, what exactly is PTSD? PTSD is an abbreviation for post-traumatic stress disorder. One website says that the people that have this disorder developed it from being in a situation that was threatening or terrifying (â€Å"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder†). This disorder does not onlyRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to the Mayo-Clinic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD is defined as â€Å"Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event† (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). Post Traumatic Stress disorder can prevent one from living a normal, healthy life. In 2014, Chris Kyle playedRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )944 Words   |  4 Pageswith Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD Stats). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental disorder common found in veterans who came back from war. We can express our appreciation to our veterans by creating more support programs, help them go back to what they enjoy the most, and let them know we view them as a human not a disgrace. According to the National Care of PTSD, a government created program, published an article and provides the basic definition and common symptoms of PTSD. Post-traumatic

A Theory That Individuals Can Live With Better Health

Matuska Christiansen (2008) proposed a theory that individuals can live with better health, less stress, more satisfaction, and have a balanced lifestyle through particular lifestyle configurations. Ultimately, the lifestyle balance is what can lead to a better quality of life with higher satisfaction and health because it contains compatibility of actual and desired occupation patterns based on an individual’s environment. The model recognizes that people have different physical, social, and cultural needs and that they can vary over time. The balance is the result of the extent people engage in these different essentials consistently (Matuska Christiansen, 2008). The model offers variability of satisfying the people’s needs by†¦show more content†¦However, there also came satisfaction of being able to play with my friends and make a good harmony. Matuska Christiansen’s lifestyle balance theory focused on five important lifestyle patterns. Out of the five, the three dimensions of lifestyle balance that I chose from the article are: (2) rewarding and self-affirming relationships with others, (3) feel interested, engaged, challenged, and competent, and (5) organize time and energy to meet personal goals and renewal. Rewarding and Self-Affirming Relationships with Others Matuska Christiansen (2008) state that there are many positive relationships between social support and psychological and physiological factors. Social support seems to buffer stress and reduce risks of chronological diseases and mental health disorders. Matuska Christiansen (2008) clearly mentions that the lifestyle balance theory does not focus on healthy relationships between giving and receiving support. However, it focuses on the mere fact that satisfaction results from choosing this occupation and social support. In my occupational experience, I could have chosen to play guitar by myself at home. However, I chose to join a praise team at a church and practice together. The band members brought enthusiasm and encouragement for me to continue. Although playing together was a different experience and it was frustrating, I still felt satisfaction and enjoyment because I was in a corporate atmosphere. As I wrote in my reflecti on

Literary Analysis The Natural - 1682 Words

Literary Analysis: The Natural Many people believe that material things will bring you peace and happiness. That is not always that case though.Everyone at some point in their life had gone through something that they thought would have a major positive impact on their life, but ultimately, it affected them very negatively. These can include anything from money, to power, even to women. Bernard Malamud explains these example in his book, The Natural, with his character, Roy Hobbs. Roy is the Knights star baseball player, when all goes wrong. He starts to chase different women, believing that those people will lead him to happiness in the end. Roy Hobbs is the main character in the book, The Natural, who finds himself in tough situations, and finally discovers that what he wanted from the start, won’t actually make him happy in the end. Roy first finds himself caught up in all these material thing that he believes will make him happy at the young age of nineteen. Roy is a supreme young, talented pitcher, when he meets a scout named Sam Simpson. The two go onto a journey to Chicago, so Roy can go and tryout for the MLB baseball team named the Chicago Cubs. While on the journey, the train stops at a near by carnival, where Roy bets to Sam, that he can strike out on of the other passengers by the name of â€Å"The Whammer†. The Whammer is the MLB leading hitter in the American League. The Whammer is being eyed up by a young, pretty lady by the name of Harriet. Roy wants her toShow MoreRelatedWilliam Wordsworth s The World Is Too Much With Us1348 Words   |  6 Pagesless because of unlimited desires. Levertov reflects Wordsworth’s values, but using unique images to present this idea. Although these poems approach the same theme, literary language and literary devices make them distinct. Literary devices can strengthen the message in a poem. For example, William Wordsworth uses the literary devices such as simile and personification to emphasize his argument. The line â€Å"The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon† displays the relationship with the moon and theRead MoreAbelard and Aquinas Essay713 Words   |  3 Pagesrenowned dialectician from 1079 to 1142. He subjected theological doctrines to logical analysis. In other words, he used rational argument to discover truth. Saint Thomas Aquinas, was a believer in the power of reason, giving St. Augustines theory an alternate approach. He taught in Paris and Italy during the years 1225 to 1274. Both of these new age thinkers changed the way Catholic followers viewed the natural world. Peter Abelard was one of the new thinkers that applied scholasticismRead MoreA Quantitative Style Analysis About Different English Translations Of The Captains Daughter By Alexander Pushkin1176 Words   |  5 PagesQiuying Jiang 11/03/2017 Programming for Cultural Data Analysis - Proposal A Quantitative Style Analysis about Different English Translations of the Captain’s Daughter by Alexander Pushkin Data Set The data set includes three English translations of The Captain’s Daughter (Alexander Pushkin, 1836) from Ekaterina Telfer, T. Keane and Milne Home respectively. The translation of Milne Home is downloaded from Gutenberg which is an open access project that offers free eBooks to public. The other translationsRead More Analysis of Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for Death803 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop for Death In regard to Emily Dickinson’s poem, â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death,† Critic Eunice Glenn says: â€Å"In the first two lines Death, personified as a carriage driver, stops for one who could not stop for him. The word ‘kindly’ is particularly meaningful, for it instantly characterizes Death. This comes with surprise, too, since death is more often considered grim and terrible† (Glenn). Critic Charles R. Anderson says, â€Å"DeathRead MoreEssay on Frankenstein is Not a Natural Philosopher1238 Words   |  5 Pages‘Frankenstein and natural magic’ takes a literary approach to the analysis of ‘Frankenstein’ although this is supported by some background scientific knowledge. Through the article, Smith describes the impacts science has made on Frankenstein’s life . Smith plays close attention to Frankenstein’s childhood, where he discovered the ancient philosophers, and his Ingolstadt years. It is in th ese periods where Smith argues that Frankenstein is not a natural philosopher but a natural magician due to hisRead MoreSocialist Feminist Criticism1164 Words   |  5 PagesDropped the Bomb on Me, Baby Feminism and gender studies have been described as having the ability to challenge literary and culture theory to confront the difficult task of assimilating the findings of an expanding sphere of inquiry (Contemporary Literary Criticism 567). This area of study has taken center stage during the last fifty years, not only in our society, but also in literary criticism. Although the terrain Feminism traverses can hardly be narrowed down to one single definition, the explorationRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Mad Max Franchise 1709 Words   |  7 Pagessince the original â€Å"Mad Max† was released in 1979, and the most recent, Mad Max: Fury Road, illustrates elements from several schools of literary criticism. These criticisms play a major role in the Fury Road story, and obviously played a role in shaping the director’s perspective of a post-apocalyptic future. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the literary criticisms of Marxism, Feminism, and New Criticism influence Mad Max characters, their stories, and the series. Body Synopsis Mad Max:Read MoreBells for John Whitesides Daughter by John Crowe Ransom873 Words   |  3 Pagestime. As a poet, essayist, and teacher at Vanderbilt University and Kenyon College, Ransom was one of the prominent leaders of the Fugitive Agrarians and the founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism and the literary journal, Kenyon Review. His works fall into many different literary movements but the majority of his poems fall within the Fugitive-Agrarianism, now known as the Southern Renaissance, movement that emphasized classicism and traditionalism. The writers that were partRead MoreEssay Classic Fairy Tales: Annotated Bibliography1398 Words   |  6 Pagesluxurious item. First, he speculates that a â€Å"Lady Bountiful† gave her the cloak, which had belonged to her daughter. Later, however, Delaney suggests that the cloak is merely symbolic, perhaps representing a fantasy world in which she lives. In his analysis of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Richard Kelly describes Wonderland as a nonsensical place where Alice is â€Å"treated rudely, bullied, asked questions with no answers, and denied answers to asked questions.† Kelly gives special attention to theRead MoreKingsolvers Butterflies in Flight Behavior782 Words   |  3 Pagesunderstand the literary mechanisms that Kingsolver presents in order to surreptitiously conveying her own opinions. In particularly, one must appreciate Kingsolvers method of integration, a process whereby she causes her audience to engage in a process of learning along with her protagonist Dellarobia. Her purpose for incorporating her audience into the learning process is communication tactic, which allows her to convey her respective themes. One must first understood the operations of the literary mechanism

Rocket Boys Essay Example For Students

Rocket Boys Essay Rocket Boys, an exciting memoir of a group of boys who are interested in rocketry, was written by Homer Hickam Jr. This autobiographical book tells about Homers adventures with his rocketry friends. While Homer is launching these rockets, he deals with such problems as school, friends, and his dysfunctional family. His father, the superintendent of the local coalmine, disapproves of his building of rockets, and wants him to become a miner. His mother, on the other hand, is urging on Homer because she knows that the mine is dangerous and can kill her son. Even with so much going on around him, Homer and the rocket boys keep building and shooting off rockets. This story took place in Coalwood, a mining town in the West Virginian mountains, and in the surrounding towns. This story occurred around 1957 to 1961 and covered Homers entire high school years. There were some very important events in this book. The first event took place in 1957 when the awestruck Homer watched as the Russian satellite Sputnik drifted over Coalwood as it made its legendary orbit around the earth. This inspired Homer to start building and launching rockets. The second important event in this book came about when a rocket that was launched by the boys actually flew. So far, all of their rockets had just been duds. Their happiness was muffled though, when they learned that the rocket had struck one of the mines many factories. Homers father was outraged and forebade him to launch any more rockets on company property, which consisted of about everything within a two-mile radius of the town. Another important event was when Homer won the national science fair. This wa s the final ingredient needed for the rocket boys to be accepted by the town. Unfortunately, it took all of their high school years to achieve this. The final important event in this story transpired when Homers father, who had objected to his launching of rockets, launched the last rocket the rocket boys made before they went to college. This was the farthest rocket they ever launched, and Homers father apologized for the way he had acted and told Homer to go out and chase his dream. The most exciting part of this book was when Homer went to the national science fair. It was extremely suspenseful, and I wasnt sure if Homer was going to win the fair. If this book were a fiction book, it would be easy to guess that Homer would win the fair, but because this was a biography, it was not so predictable. Homer is an important person because he is living proof that if you try hard enough, you can achieve your goal. He also contributed to the NASA space program and is still working with NA SA today. From reading this book I learned not only factual things such as how to calculate how high a rocket travels or the proper way to mix an explosive, but also how to deal with any family problems and what a friendship means. These things are important to know throughout your life. The author definitely had a purpose in writing this book, and that was to teach the reader, whether young or old, these valuable lessons. Of all the facts given in this book, I would not disagree with any of them, because the person writing this book is an expert. I could not find anything even remotely wrong with his writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because it is about something I can relate to. I am interested in rocketry, and build my own rockets. I would recommend this book to anyone with a goal, because it sends the message that if you try hard you can accomplish it. The reading level in this book is difficult, but at the same time, any hard vocabulary is explained at a later time. All in all, this was a fantastic book

Mark Childress Essays - Scoutcraft, Walking, Hiking, Childress

Mark Childress English 20 Editorial Paper (Peer Draft) 01/29/99 Nature Doesn't Always Nurture Through today's growing technology and a new generation of people, the sport and hobby of outdoor hiking is on the rise. The most rudimentary equipment for hiking is a backpack and, of course, your feet. However, to the more experienced hiker, there is an abundant amount of gear that proves very useful. The most important piece of gear an avid hiker can own would have to be his head. Common sense and a knack for direction and orientation are key to preventing a nightmarish voyage. I know this through some of my own experiences and other peoples' as well. Do you ever remember going to the shopping mall with your mom and after a couple of rounds through the women's section in Dillards, you look up to find that you are following around some other woman? The very first thing you do is panic and think you are going to be lost the rest of your life and probably wind up dead in the broom closet. This is natural, it is human instinct to panic at first glance at an overwhelmingly bad situation. You then realize, after you take a short pause to calm down, that you have been taught what to do in situations like these. Go get help from a man in uniform or a nice old lady behind a counter. The big question is what do you do when you get lost from your mom when there is nothing but 200 square miles of wilderness around you? One hint is to follow rivers downstream because you're bound to hit a town sooner or later. Another hint is to reach higher ground to get a better look at your surroundings. Sure, those are good ideas, but who wants to take tha t chance early on. As the boy scouts say "Be Prepared" and the six p's of the air force, "Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance" are not well known theories, they are fact. Every hiker no matter where they are trekking should carry a map and compass and have at least minimal knowledge on how to use them.