Author post on Mike Lupica

The author of the book Miracle on 49th Street is Mike Lupica. He is a well-known sportswriter nationally. Some of his other popular books are Heat, Travel Team, Summer Ball, and Million Dollar Throw. He is a sports columnist in the New York daily news. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and four children. Mike also sites on the popular ESPN show "The Sports Reporters". Whatever Mike chooses to write about, you can almost guarantee it will be a great read for all ages! I encourage you all to look into reading books by this author in the future!

Text to text connection

I have just started to read the book "Mracle on 49th Street" by Mike Lupica. So far, I can already find a text to text connection within the story. In this story, a girl named Molly goes to the Boston celtics training facility. She waits outside to meet one of the best players named Josh Cameron. She claims to be related to him some way. I connected this with the movie "Gameplan". It is pretty much the same story. A girl shows up at a famou football players house and claims to be his daughter. I don't know how this story will end, but so far it is looking very similar to "Gameplan".

First post about "Fahrenheit 451"

I am responding to the prompt that says "How has a character changed since they were first introduced? What have they done or said thats changed your opinion of them?" The one charcter that has already made a change in the story is Guy Montag. He was introduced at the very beginning of the story as a fireman who puts fire to books and believes he is happy. Later in the first part, he was questioned if he was happy. He replied as if it was a stupid question. Of course he was happy! Then he began to think maybe he wasn't. This is a major change of his thoughts and internal beliefs of what being happy really was. Right after his confrontation with Clarrise, it even says, "Montag shook his head. He looked at a blank wall" (Bradbury 8). This quote shows how he is unsure about what he is supposed to think.

Final Blog Reflection

Click here to view my best blog post

This link leads to my analysis post. I felt this was my best post because I met all the requirements and it was picked for featured blogger. I felt I "cited strong and textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drwan from the text." These were the exact words from the rubric. I thought I included a good quote in my post. It really helped the reader see how Shaq feels at this point in the story. I infered in that post that Shaq was one of those people who likes to stay within himself. This meets the requirement on the rubric that states, "...as well as inferences drawn from the text." Overall, I thought I did a better job on this post compared to my other ones.

In the next trimester of reading, I hope to increase the time I read each day. This trimester, I hardly read at all unless I needed to. I feel if I begin to read more, it could help with my understanding of more difficult texts as well as increase my knowledge of more difficult words. For writing, I feel the same way. If I can start to write a little bit each week, I could become a better writer as well as a better overall student in english class. One area of improvement I have for reading is to be able to understand confusing texts better. I need to get into the habit of thinking about what is going on while I read instead of just reading without thinking; which I commonly do. If I do this, I feel I can better understand difficult texts like Shakespeare without having to read it many times. For writing, I think I could definitly work on my voice. If I have a better voice in writing, it would make my stories or whatever I am writing more interesting.

Post about Choir from THE CHRONICLE

In the school newspaper, The Chronicle, there is an interesting article written about the choir class. It is written by Emily Taylor. It mainly talks about the teacher, Mrs. Santos. She is known to be a very good teacher, as well as very passionate. She likes to have a connection with the students. "She calls us her family and that's what is truly special about her." I feel it is very important for teachers to do this. If you have no connection with your sudents, how are you supposed to find the best way for them to learn? The article also mentions how she doesn't like to mess around. "She's welcoming when you walk in, but she definitly wants to get work done." Although I personally don't take chorus, I'm sure they have a blast and it sounds like a really good time.

Analysis

A specific quote I found in Shaq Uncut was, "My thing is, why is this man coming off like he knows me or cares about me? From zero to eighteen I had practically no contact with you"(O'neal 83). At this part in the story, Shaq's biological father tried to talk to Shaq and become friends with him. As you can tell, Shaq wanted to have none of that. He is mad because this guy is only deciding to talk to him once he became famous. Many people would fell the same way. If they're not with you from the beginning, they dont deserve your respect once you become famous. I can infer from this that Shaq is one of those people who likes to stay in his own circles and not get caught up in all the hype or stuff like that. Later in the story though, we may find out this is not true, but you will have to read to find out.

2nd post

On this post, I am going to talk about how the setting has changed so much throughout the story. At the beginning, there was a very rough setting. Shaquille would be sad a lot of the time due to the times his dad would beat him. He would fight through it though. This setting changed so much later in the story. He loves life. If you would watch him play just one game, you would be able to tell how much he loves the game and being there on the court. In a way, these two settings are connected. If he hadn't been forced to work hard as a kid, he would not have had this amazing oppurtunity as an adult.

Book Recommendations

Even though I havn't finished the book, so far, I would definantly recommend Shaq Uncut. It is about the life of NBA star Shaquille O'neal. It gives great details about his whole life from his childhood all the way through his NBA career. If you enjoy basketball or sports in general, you will for sure like this book! Even if you don't play sports, I feel it would still be really good because it is a great story of perserverance which everyone can relate to! Also, I believe that Shaq was a great  person and someone everybody should learn about! So, you should consider reading this book!

Characters

A complex character is Shaq. He starts out when he was young as a shy kid who kinda stayed to himself. He would just work hard and not really talk that much. As he grew up, he became so much more outgoing. When he played in the NBA, he was one of the most talkative players in the league. This advances the plot because if he would have stayed quiet his whole life, he would not have been as popular player with the fans as he was in his career. Another character who changed a lot was Sarge, Shaq's dad. In Shaq's childhood, he was always on him to be the best and make no mistakes. Once Shaq got older, Sarge let off a little bit and let Shaq become his own man. This perpels the plot because if he would have been on shaq every second of every day, Shaq might have decided to quit his basketball career because it was too much.

Tone and Mood

In Shaq Uncut, the tone and mood change a lot. At some points, mainly when Shaq is talking to his dad, there is a serious tone. "'What the hell did you say to me?' he screamed. He grabbed my uniform and hauled me througha side door out of the gym. My coach is standing there and all the players are watching, but no one is going to mess with my father"(O'neal 28). At other points, when Shaq is out in public, he tends to have a very friendly and outgoing tone which conveys a happy and laid back mood. "I had a Ford Bronco II. It wasn't much of a car, but I'd move the seatall the way back on the track so I could fit, and I put my own speakers in there, so that truck was rocking"(O'neal 54). Even though these two tones and moods are very different, they help make the story better in my opinion. One moment whena character swayed the beliefs of others, is when Shaq's grandma said, "It's okay baby. Everything is gonna be fine'"(O'neal 2). She used a very soothing and caring tone to help Shaq's mood become better and more happy.

Next Post for the week

For this post I'm just going to update what is going in the book. Shaq had arrived at LSU and hit the ground running right by his freshman year. He played all 4 years in college. He was the big man on campus. This means everyone loved him. His great attitude as well as athletic ability made him a very popular guy. He was then the number one pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He went to the Orlando Magic. Thhe Magic are happy to have him and es ready to get started there.

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Article about book!



2nd article about book!

2nd post

My book Shaq Uncut, is getting very good! It is now beginning to talk about his high school career. Shaq moved to San Antonio, Texas right before high school. He attended Cole high school. As a junior, he begins to get good looks and letters from big time college basketball coaches.
At this time, he realizes he has a chance to be great. I predict he will choose a college in the next few pages of the book. I predict he will have a successful college career, wherever he decides to go.

Theme and Summary

In the book Shaq uncut, there is a chapter that is based on his highschool career in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Cole high school. He was the starting center on the basketball team and right away, people knew he had a chance to be great. He was starting to get recruited by schools all around the country. He had offers from NC State, North Carolina, LSU, as well as many others. The overarching theme is that even if you start in rough beginnings, you can overcome these with hard work and faith. This starts when Shaq is young and has rough beginnings. He then works really hard and ends up going to LSU and is very successful there and has a great career in the NBA.

2nd post for the week

What I like about the book Shaq Uncut is that it is giving me a good background. If it didn't give me the background at the beginning of the story, it might confuse me at other points. So far, the background is that Shaq was born into a family and he never met his dad. Well, he did, but not until we has well past his younger years. He was raised by his mom, step-dad, and grandmother. His dad would sometimes beat him when he wouldn't act as he liked. Shaq would always go to his grandma as a safe place when his step-dad beat him. I have a feeling this background infromation is going to help me later in the story.

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2nd post of week

In Shaq Uncut, the setting is very important in propelling the plot. In his childhood, Shaq had very rough times. His family was poor, and he would get beat by his step-father. He didn't even meet his biological father for the first many years of his life. This helps propell the plot because if it wasn't for his rough beginnings, he wouldn't be the man he is today. He moved a lot. This made him meet new friends. Him making new friends all the time helped him become the people person that he is today.

Reading skills

In the book Shaq Uncut, it starts out talking about how Shaq was beat as a Child. One question I have is, Did it ever get to a life-threatening point where Shaq just couldn't take it anymore? I predict that later in the story, he will overcome this. I can connect to this because I have read and seen movies where the main character overcomes something very serious as a child and becomes very successful. This also is a problem in the real world. Some parents believe it is the right way of parenting to beat their kids. I happen to disagree with this. I think that no matter how bad it gets, physical violence should not come into play.

Question B: Throughout the book, The Blindside, the characters change a lot. In the beginning, Michael Oher is a shy, gentle kid who lives on the streets with no real place to call home. Throughout the story, he evolves into a great football player, as well as a nice, outgoing and friendly adult. This helps develop the theme of always helping others even if others think it is wrong, because if he doesn't become a happy kid at the end, the theme would not apply. A quote to show Michael's character at the beginning is, "Yet, by the time Michael turned seven his greatest fear was that some man in a uniform would come and take him away from his mother"(Lewis 296).Michael's character at the end can be shown by,"He felt right at home, in his own way. He didn't run with a crowd but he had many friends. He floated back and forth between white Ole Miss and black Ole Miss. He enjoyed his own company and kept as much of himself to himself"(Lewis 274).

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/mom-blind-side-subject-oher-thrilled-champion-son-article-1.1255092

 

This article is about how Michael Oher wins the Superbowl. It talks about what a proud mom Leigh Anne Tuohy is of Michael. He overcame all these challenges and is now a superbowl Champ.