Honors

Call of the Wild 5

2005-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

It is finished. Buck didn't die! It was the first book I've read (besides no more dead dogs and those little kiddy books that think death would be too inappropriate for 10 and under)(come on, my brother is obsessed with violence, anyways)that the dog didn't die. Buck ended up going to the WILD! Gasp. No way. After seeing the title, and then reading that same phrase in the book, it wasn't that hard to predict. Books and movies are to easy to predict. Except for the Clive Cussler books (whatever computer geek is actually reading mine should read books by that author) where he has a gazillion things going on. I just accidentally quit out of this without saving, and now I'm back, but I lost a paragraphs worth of words and I lost my train of thought! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER! Wait. So I think I was talking about how the Indians killed John Thornton and the rest o' them while Buck was gone. I was going to find out how many Indians Buck killed. Let me see. (I just found out that the Indians were called the Yeehats, on page 100, see for yourself). It doesn't say how many he killed but they thought he was and evil spirit. So now (dramatic music) they tell tales of a wolf pack in Alaska, with a leader bigger and fiercer than any other wolf.

THEEEEEEE EEEEENNNNNNNNDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Call of the Wild 4

2005-05-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Buck can feel the Call of the Wild (touching music)! John Thornton is out looking for a gold mine that no men have returned from. And Buck would just wander off from their camps were they were for a long time. They were bringing in loads of gold. I am suprised that he felt the Call of the Wild (toughing music)! At the beginning of the book he was a housepet, but I forget what breed he was. I'll check. Just one sec. Nope not there. Nor there. Where is it? Ah. There it is. On page 3. I have proof that he is Half St. Bernard and half, um, Scotch shepard dog. I told you. Maybe that explains why he wants to run wild (dun dada da). He met a wolf and they became friends. That's where I stopped. I am suprised that Buck didn't die yet. It seems like every book with a dog in it, the dog dies. Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows. It's a natural phenomenon (I hope I spelled that right). This book is just another example of loyalty. Buck is being very loyal to John. He was also very loyal to Manuel when he was sold.

Call of the Wild 3

2005-05-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Buck has just met this really good guy, and a few stupid people. We also learned that Buck is very stubborn. The stupid people we met were Hal, Mercedes, and Charles. Mercedes was Hal's sister and Charles' wife. They were so stupid that they drove sleds over rotting ice twice. They got lucky the first time, but I don't need to tell you the rest. The good guy we met was John Thornton. The dogs were starved and exausted. They had to be whipped to get up. But Buck would not budge (stubborness). Hal kept on whipping him (stupid) and then clubbed him (incredibly stupid, proving the fact that I hope if they made this a movie, the rooms for these guys would be padded). Then John Thornton stepped in and saved Buck's life (good)(just so you know, I wasn't talking about Thornton on the padded room thing for those incredibly tired or mental people who are actually reading this). I think that John will turn out to be Buck's best friend (human) in the whole book. (Just so you know, i just kind of felt like using parenthesis tonight)(a lot of them)

Call of the Wild 2

2005-05-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

I though it was kind of cool how Buck stood up for what he deserved by beating Spitz in a fight. He was able to learn from his mistakes in earlier time to get the lead spot instead of Sol-leks. When François pulled out a club, Buck knew to stay away from it from his experiece with the man in the red sweater where he just kept on charging. In his fight with Spitz, he was able to learn quickly how to fight that dog in the wolf style. Buck has learned very quickly all throughought the book, like when he was trapped inside his hole by snow. I think he will make a very good lead dog with that trait in mind. Also combined with his strength and speed.

Call of the Wild 1

2005-05-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

So in the first part of this book, we get introduced to the main character. A dog, yes a dog. His name is Buck and he belongs to Judge Miller. They live in a valley somewhere in California and Buck has a good relationship with all of the people. So one day, Buck follows the gardener out on a walk. The gardener brings him to another man, and when the gardener puts a rope around Buck's neck, Buck doesn't do anything because he trusts the gardener. But when he hands the rope to the other man, Buck gets scared and attacks the other man. The other man and the gardener end up getting him into a wooden cage and throwing him into a train. They don't feed him on the ride to Seattle, where they bring him to a man in a red sweater. The man comes out with a hatchet and a club. He uses the hatchet to break open the cage and when buck attacks with the rage of hate, he beats him with the club. The man is a person who sells stolen dogs to people who are going up into the Klondike for the gold rush. So Buck ends up getting sold to a man named Perrault. Him and his partner, Francois, put him on a boat up to Alaska. Then they head on their way, but they also have another intention, to set the record time in getting to this one city. So on the way, Buck is starting to get a bitter relationship with the lead dog, Spitz.

Shane 5

2005-05-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the book!! Yeah!! The last section of Shane is just wrapping it up and talking about the Starret family. The main part is when Shane kind of gets rid of the threat for Starret's farm. So Shane walks into the saloon one day and Fletcher's hired man, Wilson, is there waiting for him. To sum it up, Shane shoots him. Then a bullet goes through Shane's shirt and Shane turns around and Fletcher is in the balcony getting ready for another shot. Shane kills him too. So Shane walks out, and with a few words to Bob, leaves. This was a pretty good book because it had more action than the others. I thought Tom Sawyer was better.

Shane 4

2005-04-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

Almost done!! Bob found out that Shane had a gun. It is a really nice gun too. He sawed off the forward sight and filed the hammer into a point. Nothing else really happened in this section, just some family moments. The only really big thing is that Fletcher, the competitive rancher, is trying to get all the homesteader's ranches for himself. For this he hired a gunman named Wilson. Shane kind of challenged Wilson by telling him that "you think you're a man because of the hardware you're carrying." So Shane started wearing his gun as protection.

Shane 3

2005-04-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Unlike pages 25-50, I am going to have to use about 1 bagillion words to explain all that happened. I am suprised that Jack Schaeffer was able to fit all of it into 25 pages. This part of the book went fast because it had all of the action and fights (do the little Napoleon Dynamite "Yesssssssssss" thing). So when Shane went into town to get the tongs wielded, he went into the bar. Then one of a competative rancher's men, Chris, started bugging him about smelling like pigs even though there aren't pigs on the ranch. Then he said that farmers wouldn't drink anything stronger than a soda pop. So the next time Shane was in town, Chris was playing poker in the saloon. So Shane bought him a soda pop. Chris got lucky, Shane only broke his arm and knocked him out during his little tantrum. So that pretty much shut up Chris. Well then the rest of the hands got pretty mad at Shane and tried to jump him while he was in the saloon. Just as they were getting a hold on him, Joe came in and knocked off their biggest guy and the other two to the wall. But Red Marlin, one of the other guys and the leader, wouldn't give up. He was about Joe's size but Shane wanted to fight him. Red charged wildly a few times and Shane killed him.

Shane 2

2005-04-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Not much took place in the next 25 pages of the book. Bob got a toy gun and was playing with it one day pretending to shoot Indians. Shane then corrected him on some things and started showing him how to handle a gun. This really revealed Shane's past as a gunman. Throughout the story, Shane has seemed strange and mysterious. Marian, Bob's mother, keeps on saying he is dangerous, but I think he is only dangerous to his enemies. Shane agreed to work as a hand on the farm. So right now, one of the tongs on the pitchfork broke and Shane is bringing it into town to get it wielded. I think that something is going to happen.

Shane 1

2005-04-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Right now Shane is really boring, but all books start out that way. Shane has ridden into the valley and met Joe Starret, the main charachter's father. The main character in this story, well he isn't really the main one but he is the one who's viewpoint it is from, is Robert Macpherson Starrett, but he is just called Bob. When shane came, Joe had been waiting for a cultivator by way of Jake Ledyard. Ledyard brought stuff into town that you couldn't get at the General Store, for instance, a cultivator. So when Ledyard came, he was asking for 110 dollars for the cultivator and that price was "taking a loss to please a good customer". But Shane told Joe that there was one in Cheyenne for $70. So Joe pressed the matter and got it for $70 and got ledyard mad at him. Shane then earned his reputation. Joe had shown Shane around the farm and the "millstone around his neck" was a big, old stump. So Shane went and got an ax, and without a word, he started chopping away at the roots of the stump. Joe just stood there speechless for a while and then got his double edged ax and started chopping away at the roots of the stump. They worked all day with only a stop for biscuits. When they had finnally cut through all the roots, it looked like they could not lift it and tip it over. But determined, they finnally got it over. This really showed Shane's toughness and determination, but also the strange man in him. I mean, he just randomly went and got an ax and went to work!

Tom Sayer 2

2005-03-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I last blogged on this book, but I can finish fast. I'm halfway through all ready. Anyway Tom finds out his true love's name, Becky Thatcher. So he is trying to show off and do all these different "moves" to get her attention. Becky ends up liking him back, but they end up breaking up a short time later. Throughout the story they both try to get the other one back, but never at the same time. So when Tom starts talking to Huckleberry Finn, they decide to try out a new charm, or whatever you want to call it, for taking warts away. So at midnight, Tom's favorite hour, they head over to the graveyard together to try the charm, but there they meet an unexpected visitor. Three men, Dr. Peterson, Muff Potter, and Injun Joe, are there trying to rob the grave of a newly buried body of a dead criminal. Injun Joe says something about taking revenge on Dr. Peterson for something he did to Joe when Joe was a child. So Dr. Peterson tries to defend himself and is successfull, Muff comes over to help his buddy Joe. So Peterson takes a wood panel and whacks Muff across the head and knocks him out. Then Joe takes up Muff's knife and kills Peterson. Then Joe tells Muff that he did it. And Joe alerts the whole town about Muff's alleged crime. So Muff goes to jail. Anyway, both Tom and Tom's fried Joe Harper get mad at their parents one day. They decide to runaway and become pirates. They round up Huck Finn, steal some food, and go over to an Island in the middle of the river. Everyone in town thinks that they drowned while they're really playing, fishing, and swimming. So basically, Tom, in his cunningness, finds out about their funeral and the boys show up in the middle of their funeral.

Tom Sawyer 1

2005-02-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is a good book. I have read it once and listened to it once on tape so this is the second time I'm reading it. Tom seems to have what every boy at that time wanted. And then some more. He seems really smart and clever like a fox. Anyway, at the beginning he gets out of trouble from his Aunt Pollie by using his cleverness. His first real adventure is whitewashing the fence. This shows his amount of cleverness. He tricks boys into paying him so they can wash the fence by telling them that whitewashing is a privilege since you don't get to do it every day. Of course they don't pay him in money. They pay him in trinkets and toys and stuff. But later that night he forgets all of that. He falls in love. Ahhhhhh. Sigh. He doesn't even know her name but he thinks she's really hot. But where I am, at page 43, he just lost a tooth and is talking to the forbidden Huckleberry Finn. Uh oh spaghettiohs.

1st Semester Essay

2005-01-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

Lately in Honors English, we have been blogging on two books: Johnny Tremain, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Our next book is The Adventures of Tom Sayer but I still have to acquire that to my possession. I have read Tom Sayer before and it is a pretty good book, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the Revolutionary War times or Colonial America. Anyway, we have been learning about the Revolutionary War times and Colonial America in History and English, so these books have been related to that.

Johnny Tremain was an okay book but it was pretty boring. During the time, in History we had been learning about the Revolutionary War times, and in English, we had been writing about some of the Patriots. In History, we were learning about specific events that led to the Revolutionary War, and in Johnny Tremain, the author was describing some of those evens in detail. In History, we were getting told about those events. In Johnny Tremain, we were being shown those events. In Johnny Tremain, they told us about the lifestyle, like what jobs they did and what people liked doing. Johnny Tremain was a silversmith and that was a pretty demanding job back then because most of the silverware and cups and other things like that were made out of silver. Reading Johnny Tremain really helped me understand that time more.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond wasn’t a very good book. I personally found it to be very boring. Again, like in Johnny Tremain, this book was able to show me about some events in the Revolutionary War times, unlike in History and English where it told me about these events. While we were reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond, we were pretty much done with colonial America in History and English. We hadn’t studied much of New England anyway. But I could relate to a bunch of the stuff because we got more in depth of Colonial America in 5th grade. But the stuff that we studied in History was the carter arts and the governors and foreign ruler’ part. But I was able to relate to the witches part because that took a coupe of weeks in 5th grade. Like in Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond showed more about the stuff going on in Colonial America where as the units in History and 5th grade told about Colonial America. But we did have a Colonial Day in 5th grade where we made a bunch of quilts and Colonial Artwork and we did activities that schoolchildren did in Colonial America. That was pretty interesting.

In conclusion, my History this year didn’t really include a lot of stuff about Colonial America, but my 5th grade class did. Johnny Tremain wasn’t that bad, but I could have fallen asleep during The Witch of Blackbird Pond. That book was so boring. The one thing these books helped me out with was understanding. I was able to understand some of the actions of the Revolutionary War times for the first time.

Witch of Blackbird Pond 5

2005-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

I am finally done with this very annoying book. It was pretty boring because there was really only one climax unless if you'd call "rescuing" Hannah Tupper from the "Bad Guys" a climax too. That was really too bad because I wanted to see someone get thrown in the river or get branded but that's too bad. Hey, my last blog was really long. Oh sorry, just a Random thought there. Anyhow, basically Kit gets Prudence to prove that all the writing of Prudence's name in the copybook was just teaching her how to write and it wasn't putting a spell on her so Kit went free, blah blah blah blah blah. So John Holbrook got captured by Rednecks and they thought he was dead. But he came back and got married to Mercy. William and Kit broke up and William got married to Judith. And Nat got a new boat to pay for Kit's hand in mariage. Phew!

THE END

copyrighted by chris fredrickson. if you can read this you have good eyes. tell the ones who can't that they are blind and need glasses. then they can become nerds MWOOOOOAAAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!! this didn't show up very small on my blog but I can't make the writing any smaller. but if you can't read it then that's pathetic and you are blind but you have just any old normal, not-so-special vision if you can. MWOOOOOAAAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!

Witch of Blackbird Pond 4

2005-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

After Nat and some of his crewmen were caught, then things kind of slowed down. Until John Holbrook left to go for the militia. Then Judith got sick with the fever. Pretty soon, half the kids in town had caught it. So finally, I had a feeling it would happen, the blame came on the "Witch" Hannah Tupper. Kit barely saved her before they burned down her house and tried to shoot her cat. Kit ran with Hannah until they got to the banks and then they just lay low until everyone left. Then Kit decides, against all odds, to take Hannah to her house. When suddenly she sees the prow of theDolphin coming up the river! Then she puts Hannah aboard and sends her away to safety. THE END. What a happy ending... NOT!!!!! Come on, I still have to do one more blog after this! Anyway so Kit is leading a nice and peaceful life... ahhhhh! Until one day Goodman Cruff files a lawsuit against her for witchcraft. Since she was a friend of Hannah's, she is now accused of witchcraft. So the constipole had to come and take her away. She got locked in a shed in the back of the constipoles house. She will go to trial the next day. Ya know, I really hope she dies, this book is getting annoying. Maybe she will get hit by a horse like Johnny Tremain did in Buskes Blog. But it'd be more interesting if she got hanged. Then they could go into graphic detail. But she probably won't die because the author has a heart (unlike some people) and wants to make the story end happily.

WItch of Blackbird Pond 3

2004-11-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

Nothing really happened. Kit only got asked to marry someone! William Ashby had been calling on her for quite some time when on the night of the corn-husking party he asked her to marry him. She also got banned from going to Hannah Tupper's house. Prudence, who was on the Dolphin with Kit, was getting reading and writing lessons from Kit in the meadow. One day, some crew from the Dolphing went to the house that William Ashby was building and put Jack-O-Lanterns in it. They got put in the stocks for that. But that's pretty much all that happened.

Witch of Blackbird Pond 2

2004-11-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

At first Kit doesn't get along well with Uncle Matthew. But she has good relationships with Aunt Rachael, Judith and Mercy. So Mercy gets her to help with a dame school they do in their house. Mercy teaches it. One day, in midsummer, it is very hot and both Kit and the kids want to get out. So by the end Kit is very exasporated. She gets a good idea!! Instead of reading the Bible story, she will have the kids act it out. It is the story of the good Samaratin. One problem... she chooses boys to be the robbers. So when the "Jew" is walking by, the "robbers" actually try to hurt them. The founders of the school hear the commotion and they come over and fire Kit. So Kit runs and runs and runs some more, until she gets to the meadow. Then she falls down and starts to cry. Soon Hannah Tupper, the witch, comes and takes her to her house. Hannah just turns out to be a Quaker. She was droven out of Boston and her husband built a house in Connecticut. She feeds Kit dinner while telling Kit her story. She tells Kit to go the the founder of the school and ask for another chance. Kit then goes to the founder and he gives her another chance. It must have been the blueberry pie. I like blueberry pie. Anyway, later, Kit comes to visit her. Suddenly Nat, the captains son on the Dolphin, comes in. Hannah tells Kit that she found Nat the same way she found her and told him that he should go back to the Dolphin because he had run away because his dad was going to make him stay with his grandma. So now Kit is in a predicament because if she tells Matthew than she might get in a lot of trouble. Maybe even kicked out!!!!

Witch of Blackbird Pond 1

2004-11-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

We also had to read The Witch of Blackbird pond for an Honors English project. I hate the book so far. It's about this girl named Kit who someone thinks is a witch. The person who thinks that Kit is a witch, thinks she's a witch because she can swim. That means she can float in the water. NO WAY!!! Anyway, Kit was born in Barbados while her mother and father died just a bit later. So as soon as she could walk, her Grandpa taught her to swim. Just like in Switzerland. Except it's skiing instead of swimming. So her Grandpa died 4 months ago and this one guy wanted to marry her so she fled to America to live with her Aunt and Uncle. Only her aunt and uncle don't know she's coming. Now in America, there going through "the time of the witches". If someone is presumed to be a witch, then they tie a log to her and throw her in the water. Now if she sinks, they know she isn't a witch. But there's just one problem. She's dead so you can't free her!!! But if she floats, then they hang her for being a witch. So if you're presumed to be a witch, you're dead unless you don't run away.

Johnny Tremain 5

2004-11-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

Last Blog!!! Okay. One day Rab thinks out loud to Johnny that he would like a good gun before he goes off and fights in the Revolutionary War. A few days later Johnny finds out that the British will be attacking from land or on Sea. Paul Revere goes to tell the town that the British are attacking that if there are two lamps hung in the Chapel then they are coming by boat. If one lamp, then land. One day, one of the Lytes servants comes to Johnny for a favor. For the Lytes are not haters of Johnny because Merchant Lyte is ill. He tells Johnny that he is in the British army and wants to desert. So Johnny gets him dressed up as a farmer and tells him to go on a wagon going out of town. In exchange for one thing. His musket. Pumpkin ends up getting shot like he deserves and Rab goes into war and dies. Just like that. The End.

Johnny Tremain 4

2004-11-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

I've not got a lot left to read in the book. I hope a lot happens in it so I can do another post, like someones dies or gets a hand cut off or gets hanged. Anyway, after Rab got Johnny a lawyer, Mrs. Lapham said that Cilla couldn't be a witness for Johnny. Rab says that he will get Cilla out before the day of the trial. On the day of the trial, Johnny's lawyer does everything in his power to stall for time. At the very end, and at the exact right moment, Rab comes in with Cilla. She is then able to get Johnny out of Prison. Later Johnny goes over to the Lyte mansion for some odd reason. Merchant Lyte then has him captured by his servants and tries to send him off to sea. But Johnny, as always, makes it out of trouble. Life goes on for Johnny.

Johnny Tremain 3

2004-10-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

I have read a little since my last post but I can use this blog for opinion and tell you about it later. At first this book was very, veeery, veeeeery boring. The only reason I didn't put it down is because I had to read it to stay in honors. Well now it has proven me wrong. It got more exiting. After Johnny shows his cup to Merchant Lyte, Merchant Lyte accuses him of stealing the cup on the 23rd of August. Only Johnny had shown Cilla the cup on the 18th of July! Merchant Lyte has him arrested and Johnny spends the night in prison. In the morning, Rab gets him a Lawyer.

Johnny Tremain 2

2004-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Through also delivering letters from British officers, he finds information for Sam Adams. Johnny seems really smart to me. He knows exactly how to do that stuff without getting caught. Meanwhile, a small rebel group is meeting at the top of the Observer building. This group includes Sam Adams, John Adams, and Paul Revere. The Boston Observer is a Whig newspaper. Johnny and Rab make punch for the group. One day, Cilla Lapham, Johnny's old master's granddaughter, comes riding in with the Lytes. Johnny has had a bad experience with the Lytes. Johnny's mother was related to the Lytes and gave him one of four cups owned by Jonathon Lyte. The cups were made of silver. When Johnny was looking for a new job, he went to the Lytes and showed him his cup and asked for help.

Johnny Tremain 1

2004-10-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

For an honors english project, we read Johnny Tremain. I am not finished yet. At the beginnning I hated the book. So far, Johnny has burnt his hand together with silver and found a new job. It would have been pretty stupid except it wasn't his fault. At the beginning he is a silversmith's apprentice living with the Laphams. When he burnt his hand, the Laphams make him find a new job. Loner. He finds a job delvering papers for the Boston Observer. He meets a printer's apprentice named Rab who becomes his best friend. Rab gets Johnny a horse named Goblin. He is a wild horse and Johnny fell off a lot at first, but he ends up mastering Goblin. Then he meets his co-silversmithing apprentice, Dove, working at the stable where Goblin stays. Dove is working as a stable boy for the British. Dove must be pretty stupid because he lets all this information out to Johnny to tell the Whigs.