The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

The setting of The Chief takes place in a number of different major areas. Some that come to mind (in no particular order) are New Jersey, New York City, Las Vegas, and Hollywood California. Each of these places have their own importance in the book because they all act as somewhat of a stepping stone. Early on Sonny is in a small town fighting for a small purpose. After a while when Sonny starts to make his way through the boxing trenches, each fight becomes bigger than the next. The first big one that he takes part in is an undercard fight for an old and aged boxer by the name of John L. Solomon who is fighting "thee it fighter" by the name of Elston Hubbard. Hubbard is a young prodigy and is the type of fighter that will box you to death. He has a smart head on his shoulders and rarely makes mistakes and has his father as his promoter, a flashy big mouthed ego maniac. Sonny once had a shot at Hubbard but the fight plans fell through and Sonny never got the chance. This bothered Sonny because here was Hubbard receiving all this fame and fortune and Sonny had to fend for himself with his own guys. Anyhow, Martin and others persuaded Sonny to head down to Vegas just to see what was down there and get what they could out of it. Thanks to Martins loud mouth at a training session of Hubbards that was being taped for the media, Sonny and Martin suddenly became known because of the tirades they caused when Hubbard Sr. didnt like what he heard. Cameras all turned to a black guy yelling all sorts of things and an indian kid with a ponytail when things started getting heated, but that is how Sonny got his name out there. He was becoming known by any means possible and soon pulled off the same stunt at Solomons camp, although they had a totally different look at it. Solomon took Sonny under his wing and had him become his training/sparring partner. And this is where it all began. Sonnny had a first round KO the night of the match and thats when people began to open their eyes. Solomon didnt come close to having the same result but one thing was for sure. Sonny Bear was now feared.

Not a while after the Las Vegas adventure, the team headed to Atlantic City, New Jersey where Sonny finally had his shot to take on Hubbard and decrease his status as the number one contender. It was this night that Sonny was the better man and outboxed Hubbard until he lost in the late rounds due to a cut that had excessive bleeding. Hubbard and his father went over tape of an old fight Sonny lost due to this same problem and this outraged him tremendously. When the the match was called off he walked to the Hubbards' corner and gave each Junior and Senior a KO hook that made Sonny a superstar.

This is when he went on to Hollywood to shoot movies, become a party animal and go on late night talk shows. This derailed Sonny's career for a bit until he found out he was wasting things away and also found out that Jake, his relative, had gotten shot (not fatally) back up on the reservation in Sparta New York. This changed his view on everything and then forced him to get back into shape. In between fights he'd go to train at a gym someplace in New York City. And it was there that Sonny began the other fight he had to finish, the reservation. All these elements of setting really add to the mood of this book because each one has their own significance. They show the stages of things and how people can really go from rags to riches.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

The author, Palahniuk is for a lack of a better word a weird guy. My teacher was telling me about him. He told a story of how a person wrote to him and he responded back to him. Chuck Palahniuk sent this man a lock of his own hair and a vile of his own blood. I myself know that his first novel was called "Invisible Monsters". The publishers said it was to disturbing so he wrote "Fight Club", the greatest movie ever. The point was to make it more chilling and disturbing than his last one. In alot of his novels he takes some of his personal events that happened to him and puts them in his books. Like in his other book he talks about what happened to him in his swimming pool. I won't go into graphic detail but it's pretty brutal. Actually everything about him is pretty brutal. But that's why I like him so much. I do pay attention to alot of the things you talk about Mr. Malley. Remember you told us that story in the library.

Halo: The Flood Final Response

The Flood, The Parisitic Disease is spreading every where all across halo the flood are trying to repair the disabled Covenant Cruiser the Truth and Reconcilation if the flood leave halo the galaxy and the universe is all doomed. The Chief is inside what 343 guilty spark calls the library trying to gain acces to the 4th floor to get the index. The library is full of flood the chief despertly is trying to stay alive he finaly reaches the index but the moniter takes the key from him informing him he is vunarble to flood infection while the moniter is not and they cant let the key fall in to the floods hands.

The Moniter and the Chief arrive back to halo"s control room where the chief left the AI cortona. As the key is put back in the hands of the "Reclaimer" he insertd the Index and then... nothing happens 343 guilty spark is very confused, Cortana,s Image comes before the two and tells the chief thta he almost killed every one. she says "you have no idea how halo works? why it was built, it was built to contain and study the Flood and if the flood were to escape a "Reclaimer" would activate Halo and wipe the Universe clean of every living being. Halo was designed to clean the Universe of Flood Hosts so they could not spread any more.
The Chief asks the Moniter if this is true he says in complex languge yes he asked one more time for cortana to give the key back, she wont the moniter says very well and has his robotic sentinals attack him the chief escapes. They need to destroy halo be fore the Flood escape or The Moniter activates halo. They finally come up with a plan to overide the crashed human ship the Pillar of Autum engine core and destroy halo. They arrive to a Covenant contolled ship he battled through it all Covenant, Sentinals and the terrifying Flood after a huge battle he sucessfully detonates the core of the Pilliar of Autum they escape narrowingly and The Pillar of Autum erupts and tares Halo in to pices. Its done Chief and cortona are the only survivors, A Coveanant Armada the Monitor the Threat of Halo to the universe and the Flood and the Humans were all killed all destoyed. it was all sacrficed for Earth.....its done THE END

The shades of simon gray

The police had want to Simon house with a search warrant and want though his room looking for his computer and found it. They'ed took it back to the station so can look on it to see if he was hacking on to the schoool computer.Simon sister Courtney was home when it happend and after the cops walked out she had called Kaly,Denny to tell them want just happend to Simon's computer and his other stuff and to tell them to watch out for the cops if they stuff on the his computer and if it linked it back to them.

The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

The Chief is narrarated by Sonny's best friend Martin Witherspoon. In the book Martin is actually writing a book outlining Sonny's up and down career and explains how Sonny is it when it comes to true boxing talent. A lot of the time Martin describes situations from his own point of view and there are lots of times there is much dialogue between Martin and various characters that he is talking to. I like when certain parts are like this because it makes the situaton more real and you feel like you are right there when the conversation is happening. While Martin is in the writing process of his book he has to get it checked by his professor at school. Martin often gets criticized by the way he puts things together and therefore starts to disregard the whole "checking" process. He knows that he has something good when it comes to his writing and starts to feel better then his fellow students after Sonny starts gaining fame fast and Martin is right alongside him through the journey. He looks at it like its not everyday that someone gets to tag along with a world class boxer climbing through the ranks. After this he walks to school wth somewhat of a chip on his shoulder thinking that he is better than everyone else.

Martin does not only write about Sonny and boxing. He explains the team and how they are all unique in their own way and how they contribute to Sonny's success. At this point your probably thinking that Martin only writes about other people and not himself. That is not entirely true. He explains how he likes a tv lady that he meets in the beginning of the story when Sonny loses one of his fights due to a cheap and unfair decision. She asks before the fight if her crew can tape the match so that she can see who Sonny is and highlight him as an up and comer. After this she sticks around and plays an important role in guiding Sonny to the promised land and also starts to grow a tighter and more serious bond with Martin. Having Martin narrarate definitely adds more of twist on things and makes the book more exciting because of his personality. Lipsyte did a great job with this character.

Halo: The Flood 4TH RESPONSE

The Master Chief and a handfull of marines succesfully free captain keys when they ramsack the covenant cruiser the Truth and Reconciliation. When the captain was in prisoned on the ship he learned that this ricng shped world that they were on "Halo" had realigous meaning to the covanant and they could use Halo secret powers against the humans and wipe them out. Captain Keyes Sends the master chief to find halos control room so they can use this super weapon against the Covenant.
Elite Commando of the covanant Zuka Zammamee is sent to kill this human (the master chief) where both sides of the story come to gather the mission fails but Zuka Zamamee escapes narowling to live another day

Meanwhile Captain Keyes and a group of marines go to find a cache of covenant equipment and weapons/ During this the covenant looking for realigous artifacts release a deadly and all life threatning paristic oganisms called The Flood. That uses hosts of any shape or sizes Humans Covenant or anything all life is at danger, the Captain and is squad falls to the flood and become mindless zombies.

Captain Keyes is missing, the Master Chief has found the control room of halo but they need a key to activate it Cortana the artificial Inteligence sends the master chief to go look fr the captain where he was last seen. The master chief goes throught weried containment facilities and then finally comes in contact with the mutalated humans from the captains squad. The Flood attack him as he kills humans and covanant with no other choice but become consumed he escaped the night mare when robotic flying machines start helping him kill the flood. The Master Chief is found by a Sphere shaped ball glowing blue called 343 Guilty Spark the moniter of Instalation 04 (Halo). He informs the Chief that the flood halfs to be neutralized and the only way is to activate halo so then they go and search for the Index (The Key)

Halo: The Flood 3RD RESPONSE

As all the UNSC peronal and Marines evacuate the Pillar of Autum. This is were the all four sided stories Develope, The Pillar of Autum Crash lands (abandoned) on the surface of Halo and the Covenant raid it and take control of the ship, the Marines and the Oribital Drop Shock Troopers all are scadered throught out Halo. The Master Chief lands on halo in a life boat and is sent to search for surviving marines, The Helljumpers (ODST"s) and the marines set up Alpha Base on a top of a Butte all surviving equipment is stationd there , Captain Keyes and a handfull of marines are captured by the Covenant and transported to the disabled Covenant Cuiser The "Truth and Reconcillation" for Interogating. After rescuing the surviving marines from the Covenant they all rezdavue at Alpha Base to prepare for a rescue mission for the Captain.

the despair of criag blitzer

Mr.Malley i just accetped the invited you sent today so see in class

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

This book has not made me uncomfortable per say, but i know it would make alot of other people a little nervous. There are parts in the book that are very explicit. Because of the nature of the topics I won't get into it. Let's just say they involve certain parts of the female anatomy. Most of the topics in this book are not for people under a mature age. Other parts of the novel include animal intestines being thrown at people. In a basic terminology this stuff is kind of sick. But i love most like that. Things that would normally revolt people I end up being more interested in it. Like all the Hostel horror movies, seen them all about fifty times. This sort of work I really like simply for the fact that other people most of the time don't. I like graphic sort of things. I like stuff like that, it captures the readers attention.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

The story of Rant is a oral biography. It's being told by the people close to him. It's all a collection of stories all mainly concerning him. The book is in the point of view of everyone but Rant Casey. This is the first book I have ever read that was like this. The main character in the book is not telling or retelling anything. In fact the main character is dead. It's an original novel in it's own sense. The point is of family and friends and not our main character.ZackB

The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

In this book there are two main conflicts, both of which involve Sonny Bear. The one that affects Sonny the most is the reservation he lives on which is located right outside of New York City. Although Sonny is not racist he still knows what is going to happen once new casinos start going up on his homeland. He knows that the "white man" is going to come over and turn it into their own casino and cause nothing but trouble for the natives that already live there. However some of the natives are money hungry and will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck just to get by. This part of the story has the biggest effect on Sonny because this is his life that is being messed with, not just a boxing match....On the other hand the other part of Sonny's problem is his boxing career itself. Early on in the book Sonny is booked to fight a no namer and there is a clause in his contract to have his name on a sign in big bold letters. However once Sonny arrives for the fight with Martin Withererspoon, he soon discovers that his name is much smaller than "Iron Pete Vieras" and Sonny is quickly not interested. In the beginning Sonny seems to always be on the outs for various reasons. He is battling an injured hand, and his record is not the best either. Although Sonny clearly shows that he is better than his record indicates, he still has a battle with his decisions that are ahead of him. He knows that the fame and the money are in Las Vegas where the big boys are and Sonny knows he can take them. Its just a matter of wanting it mentally and also a few of his peers to persuade him to do the right thing. These conflicts make the story interesting because they leave you wondering what is going to happen next and therefore lets the reader become more interested in reading.

shades of of simon gray

The group had prombles with each other and not being honest with each other Kyle told them about that a tset that a teacher found in her printer tray at school.After Simon was in the car crash. The group had meet up to have a meeting. They talked about want they are going do about a test that Denny that had tried to print but did not work then he had print it to the secretary office of the school. Simon was in love with Kyle and she feels bad cause she lead him on to her and he had taped into the school computers system becaues of her and he is almost dead cause becaues of her and the group.Kyle and Denny are not form rich family and they and Simon make them fake scholarshipsto collage .they conflictwith they family and parant cant pay for school

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

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<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

When it comes to characters in The Chief there is no shortage of them. You have big mouthed Martin Witherspoon who usually takes care of Sonny's talking end of things (which alot of the time ends up benefiting Sonny in certain ways). You have the cigar smoking and handicapped Alfred Brooks who is Sonny's manager and knows what is best for him when it comes to boxing. And then you have Jake, the other indian that is part of the team who helps Sonny come to terms on being native and how he has to think, act, but most importantly commit to being a "Running Brave." These are the main characters in the book but there are others scattered in that help add to the mood as well. But when identifying with one personally, I would have to go with Sonny himself. I picked Sonny bacause he is witty and always on top of his game, and also indian, which helps. Just like myself, Sonny is athletic but kind of doesnt have the right mental side of it. Sonny knows what he has and he knows that he can go a long way but after a few bumps in the road he seriously starts to doubt himself and the goal he has in front of him. But once he stops to think about being a moscondaga indian and his roots as a Running Brave, he realizes that he has to pursue what he set out to accomplish in the first place, and that is to be the world champion.

Halo : The Flood First Response

The novels main protaganoist is the Master Chief Petty Officer 117 he is a genetaclly altered super soldier to fight the deadly covanent (an alien race that is trying to burn humanity to extinction) Master Chief or John 117 is the only one of his kind the rest of the super soldiers were all masacured by a secret attack now everything rest in one mans hands from humanitys survival and every other sentient being in the universe he is alone, many like him and many look at him as a freak and dont need him he has a lot of burden on him.

I think in many ways me and the master chief relate and other ways we dont
growing up as a child and even up intel now im have been an only child of the family and at times i do get lonely even now but on the flip side i dont have the fate of mankind and the fate of the Universe on my soldiers.--------or do I?

Rant By Chuck Palahniuk

I probably indentify with Rant's best friend Bodie Caryle. He lost someone close to him. I really know how that feels,To lose a person you were close to. One of my best friends moved away a while back and i haven't seen him since. Bodie is a type of friend who is loyal and wouldn't give upany secrets that they had. So when Rant died that was all some what free to talk about. Bodie is in a small way like me i suppose.I'm always looking out for my friends and i'm loyal to them,if they need me they know i'm there for them. Zack B

The Shade Of Simon Gray

The character simon gray has to side of him which the town is about to see the other side him.he had been the show the nice good side of him to the town like to cut the old people lawn and do there groaice shopping for them and babysitkids for they parent if they like to go out.it was during the summer and it was the hotter summer in years in new hampshore.the town name was groundhaven and simon didnt sleep in two days cuase the heat and his good side and his bad side is about to come not. he was on the river at night trying to cool off than thousand of frog stared to come out and run to his car and they were swarming all over his honda civic and speed out of the dirt parking lot to get home about they were all over placed sarve off the road in too a old tree dateing back to the 1700's were they is to hang people form. SPENCER COUGHLIN

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

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Rant By Chuck Palahniuk

This is a typical book by the some what graphic novelist Chuck Palahniuk.This book is about a boy named Buster Casey.All his friends call him Rant,hence the title.Rant has passed away now everyone is just remembering him.All his friends and family tell stories about him.Some good and some bad,not everyone loves him.It"s a great book book that i enjoy reading.Alot of swearing and easy language makes it easy for me to follow the story.

The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

This is a book about Sonny Bear who is an indian boxer that has the skills to be a great fighter. He has his own personal team consisting of his handicapped manager named Alfred, his close relative named Jake who is more of a role model, and his big mouthed writer, but more importantly his true friend, Martin Witherspoon. Sonny is a low key type of guy who is going nowhere with his boxing career thanks to contracts that dont live up to expectations and fights with no namers that take place in ghost towns. Along the way Sonny loses interest, often wanting to hang up his gloves and let the dream go. Also bearing down on Sonny is his Moscondaga native heritage on the reservation he lives on which is a major part of his decisions and his stress. But one day that changes when Sonny sees the way.

Halo: The Flood By William C Deintz

This science fiction novel based on the popular video game. The author brings a unique insight to the "Halo Universe" by setting Four back stories one after the Master Chief (The Main Protaganist) The Captain of the human space vessel Pillar Of Autum, Zuka' Zanamee the alien elites which shows the point of view of the war from the aliens perspective, and a Division of ODST Mariens trying to survive the genocidal war.

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...

Welcome

Hello folks. I just wanted to give you a hearty welcome to the
blogosphere (the world of weblogs, according to my widget dictionary).

I'm going to send you more meaty information in the next few days
(right now I'm testing out the "mail to blogger" option I told some
of you about today).

But for now, I want to talk to you about grammar and conventions.
These are blogs for my English class, and I expect you to follow the
rules of standard English as best as you can. Some of our previous
rm305 blog discussions were replete with mistake after mistake. You
may IM your friends and write on Myspace one way, but on these blogs
we are going to assume a more academic diction.

Thanks for the help. If you have any questions, let me know.